Supervisor John Gioia District 1 Pictures' photostream

John Gioia was first elected to the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors in 1998 and was overwhelmingly re-elected three times and has served as Board Chair. John represents 210,000 residents in the western most urban area of the county including El Cerrito, Richmond, San Pablo, and Pinole, and the unincorporated communities of El Sobrante, Kensington, Montalvin Manor, North Richmond, East Richmond Heights, Rollingwood and Tara Hills.

John is considered a leader in Bay Area regional government and serves on numerous state, regional and local boards. He is the Chair of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, 2nd Vice-President of the California State Association of Counties, Vice-Chair of the SF Bay Restoration Authority, and Chair of the Doctors Medical Center Governing Board. He also serves on the Association of Bay Area Governments Executive Board, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, Bay Area Regional Airport Planning Committee, RYSE Youth Center Board, El Sobrante Boys and Girls Club Advisory Board, Bay Area Social Equity Caucus Steering Committee, and the Contra Costa County Pension Board.

John grew up in West Contra Costa County and graduated from El Cerrito High School and the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. with highest honors in Political Science and earned his law degree from Berkeley Law at U.C. Berkeley. He also completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. John practiced law until his election to the Board of Supervisors.

John was first elected to public office in 1988 as a Director of the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) serving for 10 years and was EBMUD’s youngest ever President in 1995 and 1996. John’s public service was inspired by his father, who was a civics teacher at Kennedy High School in Richmond for 20 years. John has successfully worked to build coalitions to address issues such as affordable housing, homelessness, violence prevention, environmental justice, access to public transportation, air quality, San Francisco Bay improvement and restoration, access to quality health care, and expanding out-of-school time activities for youth.

John lives in Richmond and is the proud parent of Christopher, a student at U.C. Berkeley, and Emilia, a 2nd grader in local public school. John’s wife, Jennifer Peck, is the Executive Director of the Partnership for Children and Youth and is the transition team manager for California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.