On Jan. 9, 2025, The Alameda County Resource Conservation District (ACRCD) announced the appointment of Marilyn Harvey as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately. Harvey has 17 years of experience of service with the District, most recently serving as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). As a ranch owner, Harvey also brings her perspective as a landowner to the District’s work. As CEO, Harvey will oversee the professional team to address the ongoing natural resources and agriculture issues in the County, launch new initiatives and ensure operational integrity.
Eden Health District welcomed Ronna Jojola Gonsalves as a new board member representing Zone 2 (Central and East Hayward). Gonsalves has served as the Clerk of the Board of Trustees for Alameda Health System since 2017 and has worked as City Clerk for nearly 20 years. Her volunteering efforts include serving on the board of the directors for the League of Women Voters Eden Area, as a crisis counselor on the 9-8-8 line, teaching adults how to read, and distributing food at pantries.
Two new members joined the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) Board of Directors following a swearing-in ceremony at the Jan. 14 meeting. Replacing retiring member Dee Rosario, Lynda Deschambault will serve as Board Director for Ward 2. Deschambault has more than 37 years of experience as an environmental scientist and educator.
New EBRPD Board Director Luana España for Ward 4 is a community affairs representative at the Port of Oakland. Previously, she was a manager in the AT&T Leadership Development Program. España fills the seat of Ellen Corbett, who passed away in August 2024.
Ohlone College recognized the work of Professor Jennifer Rose Hurley with the Rising Scholars Program, which provides higher education to currently and formerly incarcerated students. In a press release from Ohlone College, Hurley shared: “The rising scholars I worked with weren’t any different from the students I met at the community college, except for the opportunities they hadn’t been given. They taught me about resilience, and they taught me how transformative a single opportunity can be.”
Doug Siden, Alameda resident and East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) Board Director of Ward 4 from 1993 and 2017, passed away on Jan. 7, 2025. Flags at EBRPD properties will be flown at half-mast in his honor. Siden served as a minister and marched alongside civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and César Chávez in the 1960s. He was a founding board member of the MLK Jr. Freedom Center in Oakland.
Over the years, Siden’s advocacy included supporting the development of Tidewater Boating Center at Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, extending the SF Bay Trail in Oakland and San Leandro, securing funding to preserve Alameda’s Robert W. Crown Beach from tidal erosion, and protecting and restoring Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline. He also led successful campaigns for bond measures CC and WW to fund regional park projects.
In June 2022, EBRPD’s Visitor Center at Crab Cove in Alameda was renamed in Siden’s honor.
