Joelle Gallagher is a seasoned leader with a 30-year career dedicated to working on the most pressing issues facing Napa County residents. Her experience reflects the diversity of our community and its needs.  She has worked on behalf of children and families as the Executive Director of First 5 Napa County since 2017, an organization dedicated to the unique issues facing young families with children ages 0-5. She served as the Executive Director of Cope Family Center in Napa, for 16 years prior to that.  Cope provides essential support to families with a focus on preventing child abuse and neglect. Prior to her work on behalf of families and children, Joelle was the Executive Director of the Napa County Farm Bureau and the Napa Valley Grape Growers Association, where she collaborated with industry and government to protect and promote agricultural resources.    

In addition to her professional roles leading key organizations across Napa County, Joelle has gained a deep understanding of the unique land use issues in Napa County as a County Planning Commissioner since 2017.   

Joelle’s volunteer Board Member and Board Chair roles further reflect the wide range of issues she has committed to: 

• Housing that is affordable as co-chair of the Napa Housing Coalition
• Living wage, path to citizenship for immigrant community, equity, inclusion and anti-racism, as a founding member of the Community Leaders Coalition, Rainbow Action Network, and the First 5 Napa Network
• Teen mental health as a founding board member and chair of Teens Connect
• Healthcare access for all as a founding board member of Community Health Initiative
• Homelessness as a board member of the Continuum of Care
• Small businesses and the health of our local economy as a member of the Boards of both the Napa Chamber of Commerce and the Napa Chamber Foundation 
• Improving health outcomes for Napa’s low-income and vulnerable residents as co-chair of the Live Healthy Napa County Leadership Collaborative.   

Joelle grew up in Sonoma and attended Justin-Siena High School in Napa and holds a degree in psychology from the University of Santa Clara. She lives in Napa with her husband, Bill Chadwick, and has two grown children, Katie and Will. She is running for Napa County Supervisor in District 1.

My political "philosophy" is values-based. People and planet must come first, for our economy to truly thrive and work for everyone.

There is a statement in the current County General Plan that says, quote, “Napa will continue to be a place with abundant natural resources, a vibrant agriculture-centric economy, an enviable quality of life, and a responsible and inclusive government.” One of my primary goals in running for County Supervisor, is to pursue these aspirations for all of Napa County’s residents. “Abundant natural resources” rely on policies and people who are willing to protect them. “A vibrant agriculture-centric economy” has at its foundation the protection of resources: land, water, and workers. An “enviable quality of life,” means that every resident of napa county should have a safe and stable home, enough healthy food to feed their family, opportunities for education, a job that pays a living wage, access to healthcare and freedom from discrimination. A “responsible and inclusive government” should provide many opportunities for civic engagement, including accessible and welcoming public meetings that occur outside of the typical workday, and the ability for all residents to comfortably express themselves in their own language!

For 30 years I have been serving the community in a variety of leadership roles. I have the skills and experience in the two main focus areas of the Board of Supervisors, land use and health and human services. I’ve led organizations and served on many boards, so I understand the role of the board is to be aspirational, and make policies that reflect the values of the community. The staff has the expertise to implement those policies, and should be well-supported by the board. I’ve also collaborated across sectors (business, government, and community-based organizations), and know that trusting relationships are critical to doing work that requires brave decision-making.

On the Planning Commission, our commissioners have worked together with a true sense of comradery, even when we disagree. I’ve proven that I can make the tough and sometimes unpopular choices, in order to protect the long-term health of our ag preserve and our natural environment.

With over 40% of our residents carrying a housing burden, 1 out of 3 households not earning enough income to make ends meet, and 80% of our workforce commuting from outside of Napa county, we must work across our county to build more housing that is affordable and assure people earn a living wage and adequate benefits. Our ecosystem is fragile and the quality and quantity of water available in California is one of the most difficult issues we face. In Napa County we need to better understand water availability, because we cannot manage what we do not measure. We need to fund our wildfire protection plan, because we cannot continue to endure catastrophic wildfires, which traumatize our communities, burden our economy and endanger public health.

With our next General Plan on the horizon, we have an opportunity to build it on the foundation of current science, include an environmental justice element and shape the entire plan using a health in all policies framework. This will ensure that every policy is shaped with an eye to equity and every policy will have at its core the protection of the health and wellbeing of ALL residents.

As the daughter of a school teacher and a police officer, I have lived democratic values since day one. My vision is to live those values every day as a County supervisor, by listening to all perspectives and co-creating solutions that work for all community members. 

Suzanne Besú Truchard is a practicing attorney, small businesswoman, mother, and community leader in the Napa Valley.  She knows how to get the job done and never shies away from hard work - something she learned from a young age as the daughter of Cuban immigrants.

When Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government in 1959, more than a million Cubans fled and emigrated to the United States. Castro began to nationalize private property the following year, and Concha and Benito Besú, Suzanne’s grandparents, lost everything. They left behind their family farm after spending years caring for the land they called home. They arrived in the United States in the pursuit of a better life, leaving Cuba with only two suitcases and the clothes on their backs. 

Upon arriving in Miami, Florida, Suzanne’s grandfather was ready to work as hard as ever to chart his own path forward in the pursuit of the American Dream. He drove trucks and took on odd jobs to earn money and to keep his family fed. Many years later, he and his wife were able to open their own small business – a family-owned jewelry store. It was a true American success story in a time of adversity.

Suzanne’s upbringing wasn’t always easy. At the age of 6, her parents divorced, and she moved into a working-class apartment complex with her mother and her sister. Suzanne’s upbringing instilled in her a strong work ethic from a young age, earning her acceptance to Harvard University, where she graduated with a degree in Health Policy with honors.  She then graduated from Northwestern University School of Law and is now a member of the California and Florida Bar Associations.

While practicing land use and real estate law in her hometown of Miami, Suzanne visited the Bay Area on a work trip, and fell in love with the Bay Area.  She met her husband Anthony, a multi-generational Napa resident who shares her interests in law, family, community, and protecting Napa County’s rural, agricultural heritage. Coupled with their commitment to economic and environmental sustainability, these priorities have been cornerstones in their efforts to be hard-working, socially conscious citizens.

Suzanne has lived in Napa for over a decade and, in addition to working in her legal and real estate practice, has been actively involved in the community through both her service on the Board of Trustees of OLE Health Foundation and her extensive pro bono work within the Latinx community. Through Leadership Napa Valley, she gained unique insight into the many facets and intricacies of Napa County. Suzanne is a recipient of the North Bay Business Journal’s Latino Business Leadership Award, and participates in the Napa Latino Leadership Association. 

Suzanne cares deeply about the value of education, and mentors underprivileged students applying to college so that they can benefit from mentorship as she did.

When she’s not working for her clients and community, Suzanne enjoys spending time with her husband and two children: Anthony (8) and Zuzu (5).

I have been a life long Entrepreneur. I began my Career in electrical contracting, while studying Bio-Science at UC Davis, preparing for a career in orthodontics. Life took me in the direction of expanding my electrical contracting business (Pacific Electric), opening a retail lighting store and additionally now working to develop a large industrial size solar grid to powerthe grid in and around Lagos Nigeria. My other entrepreneurial positions  include CEO of a publically traded company on the Canadian Stock Exchange working within precious mineroligical exploration in West Africa( Sunergy Inc), construction finance manager for a local lender, owner of a ground up advertising and marketing company,( Garrett's Guide) for the construction, wine and resturant industry, and fundraising affiliate for multiple start-up companies.

As Napa Native, with proud Hispanic ancestry, I feel strongly about my connection to our community and its future. For many years now I have watched Napa evolve from a small comfortable town to a thriving tourist destination. During this evolution I have watched as our government leaders have forgotten about the citizens of this community, and what we need and expect from them. Our schools, local businesses, roads, sidewalks, parks and other infrastructure have often been ignored.

As a lifelong entrepreneur and resident, I am confident that I have the knowledge, skills, and understanding of what this community needs to make it the home we all want it to be. Given the amount of tourism revenue that flows through our community, our county should have the best schools, roads, parks, infrastructure and family facilities in the State, if not the country. It is my goal to make this happen with common sense, logical solutions.

Given my experience and understanding of water conservation, solar, mineralogical studies, ecological evaluations, geological surveys, soils, erosion and local agribusiness, I have a diverse background which is well suited to our local, complex ecosystem. This, combined with my experience with construction, farming and the socioeconomics of the Napa area, provide me with a level of experience critical for this farming and tourist community.

I am a firm believer in respect. Elected officials are elected to represent the best interests of the people. Elected officials at times forget  they are elected in good faith by the people , which can lead to croniism, lack of transparency and lack of Voter representation.