Faces of EBCE: Elisa Márquez

Elisa Márquez brings deep East Bay roots to the EBCE board, and her new position on the Alameda County Board.

Elisa Márquez is in love with Hayward.

She was raised in Hayward, graduated from Hayward High, went to CalState Hayward (now called CalState East Bay) for both college and grad school, and has lived and worked in Hayward as an adult.

Her grandparents had a tortilla factory and restaurant at C and Atherton streets in Hayward, and her family has a restaurant downtown.

“I just love the diversity of the community, so many languages, so many educational institutions,” she says. “I love all the beauty and open space, but it’s close to big cities like San Jose and San Francisco. It’s the place that makes me happy.”

“It just keeps me centered and wanting to be involved.”

And involved she has been, with a long string of community service positions.

While she was politically active as a teenager, her official civic engagement started after college.

Márquez spent 10 years on City commissions, including the Human Services Commission and the Planning Commission. While serving on the commissions she went back to CSU for a master’s degree in public administration.

“Making recommendations about funding was a huge eye-opener,” she says. “You really need people from the community who understand community needs and the non-profits and what they can do.”

All of this volunteer service and academic training made her the obvious choice in 2014 to fill a vacancy on the city council, when Councilwoman Barbara Halliday was elected mayor. After that trial period, she was elected to the seat in 2016 and again in 2020.

From her time on the Council, Márquez cites her work on affordable housing, tenant protections, and environmental issues. “We were the first city in the county to adopt a climate action plan, and we have met many of the goals ahead of time,” she says. Launching EBCE in 2018 was a key part of that climate action.

Her track record on the Hayward council again made her the obvious choice to fill the seat of Richard Valle on the Alameda county board, who passed away in February 2023. Valle represented District 2, including Hayward, Union City, Newark, and parts of Fremont.

Márquez will be serving on the Public Protection and Procurement committees, and will serve on the Ad Hoc Committee on Reparations when it is established.

“The core function of the county government is providing safety net services,” she says. “The County’s mandate is to provide public health services, behavioral health, social services, public works and law enforcement to the unincorporated parts of the county. There is a lot of collaboration with cities. My experience with Hayward has equipped me with the experience to interface with the layers of government, and connect people to the right services.”

Those safety net services are especially critical now as the region struggles to provide housing and services for the unsheltered.

The County Board adopted the “Care First, Jails Last” policy in 2021 that seeks to reduce the number of people with mental illness and substance abuse problems in county jails, and to create a “continuum of care” rather than incarceration. It established a 25 member body charged with developing a county-wide implementation plan.

“We really want to reduce the number of system-impacted individuals and provide jobs and services for re-entry population,” Márquez says.

Unlike her appointment to the Hayward Council, Márquez had to give up her day job, since the County Board is a full-time position.

Márquez had been working for the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, as a Probate Court Investigator. In that role she would review requests to provide conservatorship for people who were unable to care for themselves.

“The conservatorship could be for medical reasons, financial, or both,” she says. “I would investigate, gather lots of evidence, and make a recommendation if the request was appropriate.”

While she may have moved on from her court job, Márquez will keep her job as chair of the EBCE board, now representing the County instead of Hayward.

She became chair in February 2023, after Jen Cavenaugh stepped down when she became mayor of Piedmont.

“We lost a lot of institutional knowledge when Jen left,” Márquez says. “My main priority right now is to get everyone up to speed, to make sure we provide continuity.”

Indeed, the EBCE board as a whole has seen substantial change this year. In addition to turnover, the total size of the board has grown to 16 members with the addition of Newark, Pleasanton, Tracy, and Stockton in the past three years.

Despite the many changes, Márquez thinks EBCE’s core mission will stay the same.

“We may have to slow down in some areas to let people learn about what we’re doing and get up to speed,” she says. “We need to let everybody express their viewpoints, and see how the new cities align with the rest of the members.”

“That’s a great thing about public entities,” says Márquez. “You get constant input from the public through their elected representatives. The new batch will bring in new ideas that will make sure we stay in touch with what our public wants. But the vision remains the same — providing affordable, clean power and programs that make our communities stronger.”

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