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MEET GINA
Councilmember and three-term former Millbrae Mayor Gina Papan is running for Central Committee in District 1 to ensure a safer, stronger San Mateo County in which to live, work, and raise a family. She is unwavering in her commitment to serving the needs of the most vulnerable Californians and the people of San Mateo County.
The granddaughter of immigrants who came to America seeking a better life, Gina grew up in District 1, graduating from Capuchino High School and the University of California, Santa Barbara, obtaining a degree in Business Economics. She earned her law degree from McGeorge School of Law and later completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
As Millbrae Mayor and Councilmember, Gina has championed women’s health and reproductive rights, disaster preparedness, public safety, and quality of life services that protect children, families, local businesses, and economic vitality, even when economic times are tough.
Gina has been instrumental in promoting green local business and governmental action to mitigate climate change, including keeping local water supplies safe and clean, and was successful in keeping local Fire Stations open during tough periods of State and local budget cuts.
A former California Deputy Attorney General, Gina helped establish “AMBER Alert” to locate missing children, funded programs to fight against elder and child abuse and established safe routes to schools, and worked to create legislation establishing children’s waiting rooms in courthouses to shelter and care for children whose parents come to court. She has served on the School Violence Prevention and Response Task Force, the Child Abduction (AMBER Alert) Task Force, and as a legislative adviser to the High Technology Crime Advisory Committee.
Gina is a Metropolitan Transportation Commissioner and Blue-Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force appointee.
She is an elementary school substitute teacher and Director of John's Closet, a nonprofit that has provided free new clothes, other basic needs, and scholarships to over 25,000 school aged children and their families in San Mateo County schools.
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