Candidate for
Council Member; City of Petaluma

Vice Mayor Tiffany Renée, the first Latina elected to Petaluma City Council, was born in 1971 and grew up in Fair Oaks and Sacramento. The oldest of five, Tiffany's first job was working hard to help raise her siblings. By 14, she was working summers cleaning houses in the neighborhood and for her father's rental units. With the tragic and very public murder of her father -- a three-time Honorary Mayor of Fair Oaks -- Tiffany had to learn to make it on her own at 16.

With two daughters to care for as a single mom by the time she turned 19, Tiffany went back to school to earn her GED and the first of three degrees. She graduated from Santa Rosa Junior College with an AA in Journalism in 1994. The first in her family to graduate from college, she continued to Mills College to earn a BA in Women's Studies in 1997. She received a Masters degree from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2002, with an emphasis in Integral Ecology. Her passion for space and climate science, technology, engineering, and math drew her to computers and the Internet in the early 90s, driving her to learn web design and, eventually, to found her own web development firm.

Her early family life centered around politics and celebrating Latin cultural heritage. Her family has always been involved in public service, and that upbringing inspired her to enter public life. Renée has been a tireless advocate for women's rights, drawing attention to the broken justice system for victims of domestic violence, promoting affordable access to healthcare through a new county hospital, and electing Democratic women to office for more than 20 years.

Her family has always been involved in public service, and that upbringing inspired her to enter public life. Renée's brother, Adam Withrow, a Marine and a veteran of the second Iraq war, serves as a constant reminder for her of the bravery of our military and how important it is that our servicemen and women's heroism is never ignored. A proud Blue Star sibling during Adam's tour of duty, Tiffany continues to be a strong advocate for veteran's rights and care.

A descendant of cotton and walnut farmers, Tiffany's other passions are local food systems and the environment. In her service as a public official, she has worked for policies that promote healthy and sustainable communities. This has led to co-founding the Petaluma Grange Local No. 851, to provide the small farms community with political and social network and place to gather to celebrate their bounty.

Renée has served on the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women. As a Transit-Oriented Design advocate, she currently serves on Association of Bay Area Governments, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, Sonoma County Transportation Authority and Regional Climate Protection Authority, where she is seeing her work to create Sonoma Clean Power become a reality.

Tiffany has two grown daughters, ages 21 and 22, studying to become nurses and lives in Petaluma with her husband, Jaimey Walking Bear.

Tiffany's public service includes the following boards and committees:

PUBLIC SERVICE:

• Vice Mayor, City of Petaluma, 2012
• City Councilmember, City of Petaluma, 2009-2011
• Alternate Director, Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Executive Board, 2011-Present
• Director, Sonoma County Transportation Authority (SCTA) & Regional Climate Protection Authority (RCPA), 2011, Alternate 2009-2010
• Member, Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Hazardous Waste Management Facility Allocation Committee, 2009-Present
• Member, Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Regional Planning Committee, 2011-Present
• Council Liaison, Sonoma County Solid Waste Advisory Group, 2010-Present
• Subcommittee Council Liaison, City of Petaluma Transient Occupancy Tax, 2009-2011
• Former Council Liaison to Petaluma Youth Commission, 2010-2011
• Member, City of Petaluma Development Code Advisory Committee, Chair of Green Building subcommittee, 2007-Present
• Former Council Liaison to Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee, 2009-2010
• Former Council Representative (Alternate) to Marin/Sonoma Narrows Policy Advisory Group (PAG), 2009-2010
• Former Council Representative North Bay Watershed Association (NBWA), 2009
• Former Council Liaison to Petaluma Visitors Program Advisory Committee, 2009-2010
• Former Founding Chair, City of Petaluma Technology & Telecommunications Advisory Committee, 2005-2008
• Former Chair, Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women, Second District, 2005-2008
• Former Member, City of Petaluma, Tree Advisory Committee, 2005-2007

• Co-Founder, Petaluma Grange Local No. 851
• Member, Petaluma Latinos Active in Civic Engagement (PLACE)
• Fellow, Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy
• Member, Coalition to Prevent Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Problems
• Former Branch Co-President & State Leadership, American Association of University Women
• Former Board Member, Petaluma Community Access TV
• Former Member, Sonoma County Democratic Central Committee
• Former Webmaster and Volunteer, DailyActs.org
• Former Webmaster and Volunteer, Friends of the Petaluma River
• Former Team Leader, Petaluma Neighborhood Emergency Response Team. Liaison to Prepare Petaluma
• Former Parent Volunteer, Petaluma High School Music Boosters
• Former Parent Volunteer, PTSA, Petaluma Junior High School
• Former Parent Volunteer, PTA, McKinley Elementary School
• Former Copy Editor & Feature Writer, SRJC Oak Leaf Newspaper