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The Almanac By Marion Softky Lennie Roberts of Ladera, a powerhouse of
the Peninsula conservation movement for 30 years, has been named to the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame for her success in protecting "much of the scenic open space that makes the Peninsula a uniquely
beautiful place to live and work," reads the citation. Mrs. Roberts and nine other women will join the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame at a dinner Thursday, March 20, at the South San Francisco Conference Center.
Founded in 1984 by then-supervisor, now Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, D-Atherton, the Hall of Fame honors women who have contributed to the quality of life in San Mateo County through volunteer or professional work -- or both. It is
a project of the county's Commission on the Status of Women. Since the 1970s, Lennie Roberts has been a presence during battles that determine where and how land is developed -- or preserved -- in the county. Widely regarded as
fair, reasonable and accurate, she has worked through the political process, and earned the respect of supporters and opponents alike. "In 1980, the five members of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
named this woman the most influential person in the county," wrote Zoe Kersteen-Tucker, executive director of the Three major achievements stand out: * Mrs. Roberts spearheaded the drive to qualify and pass the first
county-wide initiative -- Measure A, passed in 1986 to protect the county's rural coastal area from sprawling and inappropriate development. * Mrs. Roberts joined other conservation leaders in the
30-year fight to prevent Caltrans from building a giant freeway to bypass Devil's Slide on the Coastside. In 1996, voters passed another initiative, Measure T, to build a tunnel instead of the bypass. * Mrs.
Roberts helped take on the corporate garbage giant BFI and prevent Apanolio Canyon on the Coastside from being turned into a garbage dump. For Mrs. Roberts, the new honor helps spread her message. "The most
important basis for everything is the use of land," she told the Almanac. "I hope to leave something of significance 150 years from now." Other winners Four other new members of the Women's Hall of Fame
are from South San Mateo County -- three of them are from East Palo Alto and one from La Honda. Donna Rutherford of East Palo Alto went from being an active parent to a member of the Ravenswood district school board for 12
years. In 2000, she was elected to the East Palo Alto City Council. Meanwhile, she worked in food service until she joined Mateo Lodge, a small nonprofit organization in East Palo Alto, as a part-time cook at Wally's Place. She was
promoted to social rehab coordinator, working with residents who were homeless or emotionally troubled. Vicki Smothers helped change East Palo Alto -- known as "the murder capital" of the country in 1992 -- by her
commitment to building a better future and ending the cycle of violence. In 1994, she co-founded Free at Last Community Recovery and Rehabilitation. The program has grown from a staff of five to more than 50 employees, and it now
serves 4,200 hard-core substance abusers a year. Carol Lou Young-Holt brings the academic, professional and management skill honed during nine years at Stanford University to her position as coordinator for the South Coast
Collaborative. Nora Razon of East Palo Alto, a student at Carlmont High School, has been chosen as one of two "Young Women of Excellence" to be honored at the Hall of Fame. Cited as a unifier, tireless volunteer, good
student, and a youth representative to the San Mateo County Commission on Aging, she is "the type of student that comes along just often enough to remind teachers why they got into the profession in the first place," the
citation says. Other new members of the Women's Hall of Fame are: Ruth-e Bennison of Millbrae; Susan R. Ferren of Burlingame; Mildred K. Swann of Foster City; and Lisa Tealer of Foster City. Elizabeth Carole McKenna of San Mateo
and Hillsdale High School is the other "Young Woman of Excellence." Tickets to the March 20 dinner are $45 each. Invitations may be downloaded from |
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