Contact:
Barbara Arietta
President- Pacifica Democrats
415-246-0775
Horsley, a native San Franciscan, moved to Daly City where he graduated from Westmoor High School. After earning a Bachelor's degree with Honors from San Francisco State University in 1969 , Horsley worked as a juvenile counselor with the San Mateo County Probation Department and as a classroom teacher for middle school students. Subsequent to that experience, Horsley decided to dedicate himself to a career in law enforcement.
No stranger to Pacifica, Horsley has made several visits to San Mateo County's northernmost coastal city this past year, in an attempt to find out both the current concerns and issues of Pacifica residents and also to work with the leadership of the Pacifica Community Coalition To Save Sharp Park Golf Course (PCC), in their efforts to help save Sharp Park Golf Course as a viable and affordable recreational opportunity for both San Francisco and Pacifica golfers, including a great number of senior golfers and high school golfing students.
Presently, the Director and President of the Sequoia Healthcare District, Horsley was a former Sheriff of San Mateo County for nearly 14 years. His initial law enforcement experience included positions as both a Daly City police officer and a Pacifica police officer, before going to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department, as a patrol deputy in the City of East Palo Alto in 1972. Horsley then rose through the ranks and spent extensive time upgrading the training of deputy sheriffs and correctional officers throughout the County.
Later in his career, Horsley was instrumental in the planning and building of a new correctional facility, which resulted in changing the way the County Correctional system was managed. The new facility included mental and medical healthcare facilities and Horsley was responsible for the adoption of a new management called Direct Supervision, which resulted in a sharp, near total, decrease in incidents of violence among the jail population. With the dubious reputation of one of San Mateo County's cities, East Palo Alto, being dubbed the "murder capital of the United States", Horsley, upon his election to the Sheriff's office, took up the challenge to combat violence, drug dealing and gangs and organized a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement "gang task force" effort that was highly successful in helping East Palo reduce the number of homicides dramatically.
During his 14 years as Sheriff of San Mateo County, Horsley has had a number of other accomplishments, including the creation of the Sheriff's Activities League to help kids become successful in school and to also help "at risk" kids to keep out of gangs. Additionally, he also supported the advancement of qualified women and ethnic officers in the Sheriff's Department into positions of leadership. Since leaving the Sheriff's Office, Horsley was elected to the Sequoia Healthcare District and is serving as the current Board President. Under his leadership the District has increased funding to the North Fair Oaks Clinic and the Community Grant Program. Under his leadership total grants for health related programs and non-profit organizations for this year to both the community and Sequoia Hospital amount to over $8 million dollars.
Most recently, Horsley is involved in ways to assist the Coastside with accessible primary healthcare after the closure of the Coastside Family Medical Clinic in Half Moon Bay, which provided services to over 8,000 patients. One possible solution that the Healthcare Board has agreed to study is the annexation of the San Mateo County Coastside into the District.
Other affiliations of Horsley's include: Co-chair of the Attorney General and State Superintendent of Public Instruction's Safe Schools Task Force, 1998-2000 Chair of the American Heart Association's San Mateo County Executive Board of Directors, Board member of Advocates for Children, 2000-2009 Board member of Garfield Charter School, Past Chair of the World Community Service Committee for the Redwood City Rotary Club, previous Vice Chair of San Mateo County's Narcotic's Task Force, Past President of the 100 Club of San Mateo County-an organization dedicated to assisting the families of peace officers slain in the line of duty, past Chair of the 2000-2001 San Mateo County Criminal Justice Council, and Board of Director memberships in the California Peace Officers Association, the California State Sheriff's Association and the High Technology Crime Task Force.
Don Horsley lives with his wife Elaine and one of their adult children, Matt, a community college student, in Emerald Hills, in the hills above Redwood City. He has two other adult children, Christine, a legal secretary in Redwood City and David, an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California at Davis, who is married to Meng-Hsuing Kiang. They are the parents of Don's granddaughter, Juliette.
All Pacifica Democrats meetings are open to the general public. One neither needs to be a club member, nor even a Democrat to attend. A full breakfast is offered for $12; continental for $6 and coffee for $3. RSVPS are recommended. Doors open at 9:00 a.m. and seating is between 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Meeting begins at 9:30a.m. and runs until 11:30 a.m. For further information or to make an RSVP for this presentation, please contact Barbara Arietta, President, at 415-246-0775 or email barietta@hotmail.com .
1 comment:
Don Horsley sounds like an exceptionally good candidate. He has the education and his experience and community involvement are impressive. At a time when we are losing two great supervisors,we are really lucky to have someone like Mr. Horsley running for supervisor. He has my vote!
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