Gail Pellerin served as the chief elections official in Santa Cruz County from 1993 until her retirement in December 2020. As County Clerk, Gail managed all elections conducted in the county and served as the Commissioner of Civil Marriage. Gail has 35 years of experience in public service – over seven years working for the State Legislature in Sacramento, including for an Assembly office representing Morgan Hill, and 27 years working for the people of Santa Cruz County. In June 2018, Gail was elected to her 4th term as County Clerk.  

Gail served as President of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials from 2010 to 2012 and served as co-chair of the Secretary of State’s Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee.  She is a graduate of the California Professional Election Administrator Credential program and has taught credential courses on Voters with Specific Needs and Budgets. She is also a graduate of Leadership Santa Cruz County.

In her capacity as County Clerk, Gail has always been a strong advocate for same-sex marriages and received the Hammer of Justice Award from the Santa Cruz County Chapter of the ACLU in August 2009 as well as proclamations from the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and City of Santa Cruz honoring her service to the community including her work on marriage equality issues.  In 2010, she received the Kudos Award from the Santa Cruz County Commission on Disabilities, and in 2020, Gail received the Lifetime (Legacy) Achievement Award from the Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce.  In 2021, Assemblymember Mark Stone honored Gail as a Woman of the Year by the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, recognizing women who are making an extraordinary difference in their communities.  This year, Gail was honored for her work as a 2022 Democracy Hero by California Common Cause who has been fighting for voting rights, redistricting reform, government transparency, and to ensure that democracy includes everyone for over 50 years.

As Santa Cruz County Clerk, Gail worked closely with the Santa Clara County elections office, coordinating vote centers, registering new voters at citizenship ceremonies, participating in conferences on election administration, and in combined efforts for remote voters located at the Summit between the two counties.  Both departments use the same voting system, so they also function as a back-up to one another if there is ever an outage or any other issue preventing the ability to administer an election.

Major accomplishments while serving as County Clerk include: authoring several election guidebooks to assist voters in navigating through various election procedures including initiatives, recalls, and referendums; implementing innovative voter outreach programs targeting high school students, college students, people living in residential care facilities, voters with disabilities, voters who speak a language other than English, new citizen voters, new residents, and incarcerated voters; mitigating the physical access to polling places so they are accessible to persons with disabilities; obtaining a VoteMobile to provide mobile voting services to voters throughout the county, especially those displaced by the CZU fires in 2020; converting the county’s voting model from a polling place system to a 4-day vote center system authorized during the pandemic where any voter could vote at any location; establishing Passport Saturdays to provide additional convenient hours for people to apply for a passport; and offering office hours for clerk and election services in Watsonville to allow customers to obtain services without having to drive to the government center.

When the global pandemic hit, instead of closing her office, Gail worked quickly to create a safe environment for customers to continue to get essential services from her office such as obtaining a marriage license or getting married. Gail’s staff worked remotely, and she and one other staff person managed the onsite, in-person marriage functions so people could continue with their plans to get married. Gail insisted, “You cannot quarantine love.”

Gail always believed she had the best job in the county managing the office of love and voting. But, after more than 27 years, it was time to make a change. Since retirement, Gail has joined the board of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and is involved with Girls Inc. and Women’s Educational Success at Cabrillo College. She is currently in the process of creating the Cabrillo College Local Government Fellows program, to encourage first generation students to pursue an education that can lead to a career in local government and to provide scholarships and paid internships and mentorships.  She is also involved with Emily's List, Breaking the Glass Ballot and WILDR (Women in Leadership for Diverse Representation), organizations dedicated to increasing the number of elected and appointed women in local, regional and state offices.  Gail cannot shake the election bug, so she is working with the California Democratic Party’s Voter Protection Committee and was recently hired as a consultant working with Civitas Public Affairs to advocate for the Election Infrastructure Initiative to provide for long-term, sustainable federal funding for local elections offices over the next 10 years.

Gail has been an outspoken advocate for suicide prevention awareness and mental health resources after her husband, Tom, died by suicide on November 19, 2018.  Tom was a Partner/Corporate Attorney in Santa Clara County at the Pillsbury Law Firm.  Prior to that he practiced for more than a decade in San Jose at other firms. He was also a member of the Santa Clara County Bar Association, past Chairperson of the Tax Section of the Santa Clara County Bar Association and a member of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section.

Gail has a BS in Journalism from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.  Prior to her experience in public service, Gail worked as a campaign assistant to political campaigns, newspaper reporter and photographer, and community college instructor.

In her spare time, Gail enjoys going to the beach with her labradoodle Darwin, spending time with her two adult children Jacob & Emily, connecting with family and friends, and traveling.

Our new State Assembly District, covering parts of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties, faces enormous challenges. Two years into a pandemic, we are working to revitalize our economy and schools, strengthen our public health system, recover from wildfires, and address the impacts of climate change.

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My experience as a public servant makes me uniquely qualified to meet these challenges as your State Assemblymember. For the last 27 years I served as chief elections official and then was elected four times as the Santa Cruz County Clerk. Prior to that, I held various positions of increasing responsibility within the California State Assembly for over seven years. Given this experience, I know what the job requires and am ready to hit the ground running.

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As County Clerk, I ensured everyone had access to voting by commissioning a nationally recognized VoteMobile program, implementing transparent and verifiable audits, and expanding voting hours and locations. Ensuring that your voice is heard remains my number one priority. I intend to strengthen that voice in Sacramento as your Assemblymember. 

Gail

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Democracy can only thrive if elected officials involve the community in solving the problems we face. Whether it’s tackling affordable housing, providing health care that’s affordable and equitable, delivering mental health care services for those in need, or keeping California as a world leader in addressing climate change, I want to work with you to solve problems.

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I respectfully ask for your vote to represent you as Assemblymember for the 28th Assembly District and look forward to our working together.

Our communities are facing some of the toughest issues of our times: COVID recovery, meeting the challenge of climate change, addressing mental health, homelessness, the need for more affordable housing, support for small businesses, making transit work for all and more.

We desperately need experienced and proven leadership to develop a clear course of action and implement solutions at the State level.

I’ve served as a small-town mayor, city council member, regional transit, housing and climate change board member.  I also spent 25 years as an engineer, tech innovator and climate activist.   These experience make me uniquely qualified to address the numerous challenges we face at the State level.

One of the reasons why I am running for State Assembly is because I believe in citizen participation in government. Participation is what democracy is based on. I have always had a passion for public service and helping my community.

I was born in Modoc County, California (population 8,907) to a forest ranger and high school teacher. They taught me the value of hard work, perseverance in a face of adversity and commitment to community service.

I hold a Master's degree in Engineering from Dartmouth College and Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Physics from Skidmore College. I was raised and educated to solve tough problems. When I returned to California – I immediately got involved in the environmental movement.  I’ve been a local Sierra Club member for over 30 years. In 2007, I led a team of local Sierra Club volunteers to lobby Los Gatos Town Council to sign on to the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement.  Our efforts were successful and resulted in Los Gatos Taking a GHG inventory and creating a Climate Plan.

Once elected to the Council I continued to pursue environmental policies and consider founding the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority as one of my biggest achievements in that area.

A small group of us wanted to move the needle on solving the climate problem.  We formed Silicon Valley Clean Energy and reduced GHG in our service area by 34% compared to PG&E since we began delivering power.  I was a Founding Board Member and Chair of the Board when we began buying 100% carbon free electricity to deliver to nearly half of the Santa Clara County Residents.  

We refused to be squashed by the entrenched PG&E and now SVCE is thriving and pouring profits back into programs to further reduce GHG in the community building electrification and conversions to EVs while keeping our rates below PG&E.

In the 5 years we have been operating we have saved our customers $77M and avoided 575 Mlbs GHG compared to if they had stayed with PG&E

Many of the most pressing issues we are facing require technical solutions and would benefit from technical input - I firmly believe that the value of engineers taking an active and vocal role in government and policy-making is immeasurable. It is in our nature to think logically and systematically without being distracted by the intricacies of politics. 

My priorities with focus on innovative solutions and commitment to positive results include:

Regional Economic Vibrancy

§  ·       Fortify local businesses from the impact of COVID 19

§  ·       Increase affordable housing supply, including expanding innovative solutions for increasing homelessness

§  ·       Fund strategic Infrastructure Projects including electrifying trains to Gilroy

§  ·       Improve transit and paratransit options for underserved and transit dependent communities

§  ·       Protect and Preserve our Unique Open Spaces and wildlife corridors

§  ·       Support our farmers and policies that promote carbon sequestration

 Disaster Preparedness and Public Safety

§  ·       Promote Proactive Disaster Planning by addressing flood protection, defensive space and clear evacuation routes

§  ·       Improve recovery and mitigation efforts

§  ·       Strengthen Office of Emergency Management Support

§  ·       Ensure that our Departments tasked with providing public safety are fully staffed and equipped with the necessary training and support to serve our diverse communities

Healthy and Safe Community

·       Mitigate the impact of COVID on the economy and the health of residents

·        Make children’s health and education a top priority

·       Support and expand programs to allow Seniors to Age in Place with Dignity

·        Work to make inpatient and outpatient mental health services and treatment accessible for all

·       Promote policies to protect environment, clean air and water

I am deeply committed to using my many years of experience, energy and vision to meet challenges facing our communities and accelerate a pivot to a prosperous, inclusive and dynamic community, built for the future.

www.robrennie.com