Meet Your New Officials: Marie Gilmore

Alameda Sun Thursday, December 30, 2004, By Suzanne LeBarre

When Councilman Al DeWitt passed away in July 2003, nearly two months passed before the remaining members agreed on a replacement. Council squabbled over whom of the many qualified applicants to appoint. After multiple deadlocked votes, council finally reached a decision. Marie Gilmore, then president of the Planning Board, emerged victorious.

“As much as I knew about the city before, moving to city council is on a whole different level,” Gilmore said. “Council wears about five different hats and it took a while to get ramped up on all of those things.”

She caught on quickly enough, completing the remainder of DeWitt’s term and winning Alameda residents’ stamp of approval in the November election. Elected to retain her seat with 23 percent of the popular vote, Gilmore is eligible to run again in 2008, as this is her first elected victory.

The Stanford College and UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law graduate considers herself lucky. Because she does not work outside the home she is able to dedicate herself almost exclusively to a career in public service, which has spanned more than a decade in Alameda, including seats on Planning Board and the Recreation Commission. Gilmore practiced labor law in San Francisco prior to raising her family.

One of Gilmore’s major platforms has been vying for increased and more evenly distributed open space in Alameda. “You want people to have the opportunity to have outdoor recreation without constantly battling cars, and it’s nice to not have to look at other huge buildings,” she said. But she also acknowledges the consequences that result from strong concerns for desirable space. Renovations at the Harbor Island Apartment complex, for instance, have effected numerous evictions of low-income residents.

But Harbor Island is emblematic of a larger concern, she said: gentrification. “I firmly believe that we need to look at that issue. It will continue to surface and is a natural consequence of some of the development as certain areas become redeveloped and spruced up,” she said.

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Last modified: December 30, 2004

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