Candidate for
Supervisor; County of San Mateo; District 3

A San Mateo County resident for nearly 40 years, April Vargas has lived in the coastal town of Montara since 1983. April was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Her father was a Portuguese immigrant from the Azores and her mother was first generation American, her grandmother having emigrated from Quebec in the early 1900's. She is the first generation on either side of her family to have graduated from college. April received a BA in Humanities and graduated cum laude from San Francisco State University in 1973.

In 1976 April started her own home-based business, April Vargas Custom Interiors. She is a trained upholsterer. She fabricates window coverings as well as other home fashion products like slipcovers and headboards, in addition to her work as a decorating and color consultant. She is a member of the Half Moon Bay/Coastside Chamber of Commerce, a local Chamber that supports ecological tourism and coastal protection initiatives.

April has had a passion for community issues since college and has always worked to protect the quality of our lives here in San Mateo County.She and her partner of 22 years, Jeff Olson, purchased their Montara home in 1993. Shortly after, April became locally active and was appointed to a committee created by the County Department of Public Works to update local road standards and address flooding and safety concerns.

April was later elected to the Midcoast Community Council and appointed to serve on a Devil's Slide Tunnel committee that oversaw the design features of this massive project. Currently under construction, the tunnels are scheduled to open in 2012.

On the basis of her extensive experience with community-led initiatives,April was hired as a legislative advocate for Committee for Green Foothills from 2003-2005. She later worked as a community organizer for SEIU/ United Health Care Workers and SEIU Higher Education Workers.

A lifelong pro-choice Democrat, April was a Congressional District Coordinator for the Barack Obama campaign and was elected as an Obama delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. April currently sits on several boards and commissions:

• California Coastal Commission (Alternate)
• San Mateo County Green Building Task Force
• San Mateo County Agricultural Advisory Committee
• Citizens Advisory Committee for the Transportation Authority
• Interagency Council for HOPE (Housing Our People Effectively)
• Committee for Green Foothills
• SM Co Democratic Central Committee, elected member
• Vote the Coast

• Democratic Volunteer of the Year (Region 4)
• Woman of the Year (19th Assembly District)
• Member of the Coastside Women's Hall of Fame
• Favorite Coastside Activist