Distrito 65 — Asamblea Estatal de California

Sharon Quirk-Silva was elected to the state Assembly in November 2016 to represent the 65th Assembly District which includes the cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, La Palma, and Stanton.

Prior to her election to the Assembly, Quirk-Silva served as a two-term mayor of the City of Fullerton, first selected by her peers on the Fullerton City Council in 2007.  She was elected to her first term on the Fullerton City Council in November 2004.

A passion for education and public service have guided Quirk-Silva throughout her career. She was educated in that city's public schools from K-12 and went on to earn an A.A. degree from Fullerton College, a B.A. in sociology at UCLA, and a Teaching Credential from Cal State Fullerton. As one of ten children, she honed negotiating skills and learned the plusses of teamwork early on.

As a teacher for 31 years, Sharon Quirk-Silva has been a pillar not only in the Fullerton community, but in the lives of her students and their families, paving the way for the next generation of California's leaders.

An advocate of reaching out to citizens, Quirk-Silva created the popular “Walk and Talk” program in Fullerton in which she leads citizens on walks through specific areas of the community and discusses issues of concern to citizens. She also instituted her annual “Women in Leadership” program in which women leaders business and education in Fullerton are honored.

Regionally, she has been active in organizations serving all of District 65 and Orange County, becoming familiar with the district's cities and developing relationships with their leaders. She has provided leadership as a former vice chairwoman of the Orange County Council of Governments, focused on transportation as a representative to the Southern California Association of governments, and served on the board of the Orange County Sanitation District.

Quirk-Silva has received numerous awards for her public service and for teaching, including:

• The “Golden Apple” award from the Hispanic Education Endowment Fund.

• As a part of a celebration of the 50th anniversary of California State University, Fullerton, Quirk-Silva was honored as one of its 50 leading Latina graduates.

• The “Beacon Award” from the Orange County Community Association for her efforts to secure lighting for Richman Park in Fullerton and for encouraging nonprofit organizations to become involved in the area.

Quirk-Silva has four children and is married to Jesus Silva, also a teacher.  She resides in the City of Fullerton.

        Dr. Alexandria Coronado and her family have a long history of public service in our community. Her father, a decorated military veteran and Cypress City Councilman, imbued in Alexandria a commitment to public service that has been her driving force since entering politics.      

            Dr. Coronado has been a fierce advocate for improving education in our local schools for nearly two decades. She made history in 1998 as the first Hispanic woman elected to the Anaheim Union High School District Board of Trustees in the district’s 100-year history. During her four years on that board, she assisted in the development of Oxford Academy, which was ranked the fourth highest performing school in the nation and first in California by U.S. News and World Report. Dr. Coronado also assisted in the development of the Scholar-Athlete Scholarship and Recognition Awards program, the Annual Celebration of Women in Sports program, and fought to keep music and arts programs in the schools.

            She earned a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Southern California, and conducted her doctoral research in partnership with the Orange County Performing Arts Center and the Orange County Department of Education’s ACCESS program, and helped provide the necessary statistics needed to obtain funding for Summer at the Center, a program for at-risk youth. ACCESS is recognized as an outstanding alternative education program by the U.S. Department of Education.

            Dr. Coronado was elected to the Orange County Board of Education in 2002, was re-elected in 2006, and twice served as President of the Board.  She was elected to the Council of Urban Boards of Education Board of Directors in 2010 and served on the Urban Student Achievement Task Force. She assisted in producing three nationally-recognized research studies for our nations’ most ethnically and socio-economically diverse public schools, titled Where We Learn, Where We Teach, and What We Think. She served as Chair of the California County Boards of Education Federal Legislation Committee, and as an Executive Board Member of the Orange County School Boards Association for six years.

            As a Member of the National Hispanic Caucus of School Board Members, she assisted in reaching Hispanic students across the country to promote their scholarship program, which targets Hispanic students who want to become teachers in our nations’ public schools.

            Dr. Coronado owns Crown Music Studios, an instructional music studio. Her music students have won local, national, and international competitions, and have been awarded college scholarships. She was appointed to the Orange County Historical Commission by a unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors, and in her free time, serves on the alumni board for the Orange County USC Alumni Club. She is Mother to a college student who attended Orange County public schools, and has published two children’s stories with the Tribune Company.