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Colma Town Council

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City of Colma

Colma Town Council

This person would hold one of five at-large seats on Colma's Town Council. They vote on town ordinances, the budget, and land use for this roughly 1,500-resident San Mateo County town. The term is four years. The Council selects a Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its own members each year rather than voters choosing either office directly.

Four candidates qualified for two of Colma's five at-large Town Council seats. That vote happens on the November 3 ballot. Incumbents Helen Fisicaro and Joanne F. Del Rosario are both seeking reelection. Fisicaro is the sitting Vice Mayor. They face two challengers, Laura M. Walsh and Elisabeth Aurora Jenson.

The two winners each serve a four-year term on Colma's five-member, at-large Town Council: town ordinances, the budget, and land-use decisions for this roughly 1,500-resident San Mateo County town -- famous as the "City of Souls," where an estimated 1.5 million people are buried across its many cemeteries, vastly outnumbering the living. Colma doesn't directly elect a Mayor -- the five councilmembers choose a Mayor and Vice Mayor from among themselves each year. Carrie Slaughter currently holds the Mayor's chair (her seat isn't up this cycle) and Fisicaro is the sitting Vice Mayor.

Two of the four candidates already hold the seats up this cycle -- Fisicaro, on the council since 1994 and chosen Mayor by her colleagues eight times, and Del Rosario, on the council since 2006 and a past Mayor herself -- so the choice is less about council experience than whether voters want to keep that long-tenured leadership or bring in one or both of the two challengers.

Helen Fisicaro

Helen Fisicaro has served on Colma's Town Council since 1994, more than three decades. Her colleagues have chosen her as Mayor eight times over that tenure. She now holds the Vice Mayor's chair. She is a San Francisco native. She has lived in Colma since 1977. She holds a bachelor's degree from San Francisco State University. Her field was Business Administration and Human Resource Management. She retired from Pacific Gas and Electric Company in February 2010. She had worked there nearly 40 years. She sits on the California Cities Gaming Authority and the Colma Creek Citizens Advisory Committee. She also sits on the League of California Cities. She serves on the San Mateo County Council of Cities too. She has been inducted into the San Mateo County Women's Wall of Fame.

Joanne F. Del Rosario

Joanne F. Del Rosario first won election to Colma's Town Council in December 2006. She has served since then. Her colleagues chose her as Mayor in 2015. She works as an Executive Assistant to the President and CEO. That employer is a biotech company in Emeryville. Earlier she worked as a legal secretary and human resources administrator. She held those roles at Bay Area law firms and at Xerox Corporation. She sits on the Association of Bay Area Governments. She is on Peninsula Clean Energy's board of directors. She also sits on San Francisco International Airport's Community Roundtable. She serves on Colma's own Emergency Services Council too. She serves on its Economic Development Subcommittee as well. In 2009 she was named one of the "100 Most Influential Filipinas in the United States." The Filipinas Women's Network chose her.

Laura M. Walsh

Laura M. Walsh filed for this seat with the ballot designation "Medical Assistant." Beyond that filing, no campaign site or news coverage about them was found. No other source was found either.

Elisabeth Aurora Jenson

Elisabeth Aurora Jenson filed for this seat with the ballot designation "Entrepreneur and Artist." Beyond that filing, no campaign site or news coverage about them was found. No other source was found either.

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A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

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