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Longtime Bay Area legislator Ellen Corbett, a trailblazer in her hometown of San Leandro before going onto represent Pleasanton in the State Legislature, died on Friday at age 69.
News of the former State Senate majority leader’s death was first announced by East Bay Regional Park District, where she was the elected director for Ward 4 for the past eight years. A cause of death was not revealed, although EBRPD said she passed “peacefully”. Corbett had missed the Board of Directors meetings in July for undisclosed reasons.
“Ellen Corbett was always a steadfast advocate for the communities she represented,” EBRPD Director Olivia Sanwong, who represents the Tri-Valley’s Ward 5, told the Pleasanton Weekly on Sunday. “I learned a lot from her regarding how she prioritized community programming to help create welcoming parks and a sense of belonging so the neighbors closest to the park would consider it ‘their park.'”
“It has been a true honor serving alongside Ellen Corbett. She is known in East Bay politics for defying expectations and opening doors for others to serve in elected office,” Sanwong added.
Corbett’s political career spanning more than three decades included breaking the glass ceiling in San Leandro in 1994 by becoming the city’s first-ever directly elected female mayor.
Current San Leandro Mayor Juan González called Corbett “a dedicated and experienced public servant whose contributions to our community will inspire future generations” in a statement released by the city on Friday night (Aug. 9).
“Ellen’s unwavering commitment to the East Bay Regional Park District and her deep passion for preserving our natural spaces have recently left an indelible mark on San Leandro and beyond,” González added. “Her legacy of service and stewardship will continue to inspire us all.”
In the press release announcing Corbett’s death, EBRPD General Manager Sabrina Landreth described the late Ward 4 director as “an incredible champion of our mission and a tireless advocate for communities to have access to open space, public parks and nature.”
“Her time with us was the capstone to a long, decorated and meaningful public service career in local and state government, including serving as the majority leader of the California State Senate and the Mayor of San Leandro,” Landreth said. “We will remember Ellen as a fearless leader for regional parks at the urban core of the Park District’s jurisdiction. May she rest in peace.”
Born in Oakland on the last day of 1954, Corbett attended Chabot College and California State University, East Bay before earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Davis and a law degree from the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific, according to her biography on the EBRPD website.
She worked as an attorney, community college professor and civic activist in her professional life, according to her bio.
Her tenure in public office began on the San Leandro City Council in 1990, and four years later she would be elected as the city’s mayor.
Corbett, a Democrat, made the leap to Sacramento in 1998 with her election to the State Assembly, where she served until terming out in 2004. She represented part of Pleasanton in the 18th Assembly District during her tenure.
Two years later she was elected to the State Senate, where she again sat until terming out. Her 10th Senate District included Pleasanton, and Corbett became the second woman to serve as California Senate majority leader, holding the post for four years.
Sanwong, a Pleasanton native, remembered Corbett’s “lifelong advocacy (that) profoundly impacted a range of issues” – in particular, recalling her bill in 2008 to ban Teflon chemicals from fast-food packaging.
“Although Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill, her efforts brought to light the dangers of these chemicals, now more broadly known as PFAS, and inspired us all with her dedication to public health and safety. Many of us in the Tri-Valley region are familiar with the challenges posed by PFAS, and I often wonder where things would stand today if California had passed the first-in-the-nation PFAS regulations in 2008,” said Sanwong, a former Zone 7 Water Agency director.
As her state tenure was winding down in 2014, Corbett bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, a fellow Democrat, but she finished narrowly outside of the runoff position in third place in the primary that spring.
Two years later, Corbett pursued the elected position with EBRPD for Ward 4, which in addition to San Leandro includes Alameda County communities like Oakland, Alameda, San Lorenzo and parts of Hayward and Castro Valley.
Landreth lauded Corbett’s contributions to the parks district, including co-chairing the Measure FF parcel tax renewal effort and serving as board president during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Flags at all district properties are being flown at half-staff in her honor.
Corbett had remained active with EBRPD as recently as early summer, including attending the board’s site tour of Briones Regional Park in Martinez on June 21, but she did not participate in board business in July, according to Sanwong. Corbett had not pulled papers to run for reelection and then her colleagues were informed she would not seek a third term days before the candidacy deadline for incumbents.
“I was completely surprised to learn about her death last Friday,” Sanwong told the Weekly. “I believe a great way to honor Ellen Corbett is to visit one of the EBRPD parks located in Ward 4: Hayward Regional Shoreline, Lake Chabot Regional Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline, Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach.”
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