Hello, neighbors! I'm Desiree Thayer, and I'm running for Burlingame City Council in District 2. This is the first time our district is having a district-specific City Council election. 

I moved to the Bay Area in 2006 for my postdoctoral training at UC San Francisco and have lived at my home on Capuchino Ave in Burlingame since 2015. I am actively involved in my community as an appointee to Peninsula Clean Energy's Community Advisory Committee since 2017, a board member of the Citizens Environmental Council of Burlingame since 2018, and a founder and volunteer staff member with the Youth Climate Ambassadors Leadership Program since its countywide inception in 2019. Volunteering and civic engagement are a cornerstone of my life, as I learned from a young age that local action is necessary to ensure vibrant, healthy, and inclusive communities. 

My aspiration to run for office comes from my desire to serve my neighbors and community and to bring more diverse representation to our City Council. I will bring a collaborative and inclusive approach and my life experiences as a woman, biracial/Filipino/Asian American, and renter raised in a working family. As a scientist, I am guided by curiosity and able to analyze complex systems. And my north star in life, which will guide me on City Council, is to be diligent, thoughtful, and empathetic.