Congratulations to the new and returning board members who were elected to fill two-year terms in the 2023 uncontested RCPC election. Incumbents returning to the board are Mark Aaronson, Louisa Bukiet, Star Lightner, Ken Rich, and Zac Unger. Tom Lollini is new to the board. Bios of this year’s slate of RCPC members appear below.
The next election will occur in the spring of 2024, at which time all interested residents will again be encouraged to run for the board.
Mark Aaronson / Chabot Road
I moved to Rockridge in 1976 with my wife Marjorie Gelb. We still live in the same house on Chabot Road where we raised our two daughters — both now reside in nearby Oakland neighborhoods with their husbands and our four grandchildren. I spent much of my career as an activist lawyer representing clients in civil rights, anti-poverty, and environmental matters, and as a law professor at U.C. Hastings, where I was the founding director of the school’s in-house clinical educational program. I was appointed to the RCPC Board in December 2021, and have been its chief liaison regarding the repurposing of the Dreyer’s site by the East Bay Jewish Community Center. Working with neighbors most immediately affected by this development, our objective is to ensure that throughout the JCC’s planning, community concerns such as traffic impacts, and a variety of needs from recreational to housing, are given serious attention.
Louisa Bukiet / Margarido Drive
I joined the RCPC board to help shape our neighborhood’s future, and where I will continue to build a vibrant and inclusive community. I moved to Rockridge in late 2016 while pregnant with my twins — the beautiful gardens everywhere, interesting people who are our neighbors, and the engaged hubbub of College Avenue and beyond have made this a place where I’m excited to build community. Professionally, I work on ways to create more housing opportunities for more people, especially those who have traditionally been shut out of homeownership or have limited options available to them due to disability or lack of financial resources. As Rockridge contemplates a number of new housing developments, I’d like to continue adding my knowledge to the land-use activities of the board, and work to ensure our neighborhood’s resources and opportunities are accessible to new residents.
Star Lightner / Colby
I grew up in Rockridge, and attended Chabot Elementary and (back then) Claremont Jr. High School. I returned and bought a house here after law school and met my husband over the back fence! Our kids attended local public schools where I spent years volunteering. I’m pleased to now be on the RCPC board where I can give back to the neighborhood I’ve lived in most of my life. As an environmental lawyer, I once had a knee-jerk opposition to development. However, I’m saddened to see how the racial and economic diversity that once existed in Rockridge has eroded and believe we need to be pragmatic about accommodating thoughtful growth in our community. I also believe that most people in Rockridge are more aligned than not, and I’m looking forward to continue serving on the RCPC board where I will work to find common ground on housing and other important local issues.
Tom Lollini / Broadway Terrace
I am an architect and urban planner with 30 years of executive leadership experience in community and university planning, design, and development, and an extensive background in public advocacy for sustainable, affordable, and equitable community development. I retired in 2018 to create Studiolollini, a strategic planning practice that affords me time to volunteer. I presently serve on the RCPC Land Use Committee. My career focus has been to help make cities better places for everyone and to create a more sustainable, socially responsible approach to growth and development. My work inspired the transformation of San Francisco’s Embarcadero, brought U.C. Berkeley and the City of Berkeley together to co-create thousands of units of student housing, and led the development of the world’s most sustainable and first Zero-Net Energy campus, U.C. Merced. I have lived in Rockridge for 15 years. My wife, Franchesca Garagorri, has lived here for 30. We have four children and six grandchildren.
Ken Rich / Manila
This will be my third year on the RCPC Board where I have tried to focus on housing issues as well as neighborhood retail. I am a city planning and real estate development leader with 27 years of experience working on planning and development projects and policy in San Francisco and around the Bay Area. I served as Director of Development within the S.F. Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development from 2010 to 2020. Projects approved under my direction focused on low- and middle-income housing, waterfront revitalization, workforce development, and the arts. I have a master’s degree in City Planning from U.C. Berkeley as well as a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree from Columbia University, both in History. Outside of work, I enjoy mid-century furniture and industrial design, early 20th-century art, classic science fiction, foodie-oriented travel, and, of course, exploring new cities and neighborhoods.