[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 206 (Monday, December 7, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1097-E1098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN HONOR OF SHELLY MASUR

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 7, 2020

  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Shelly Masur as 
she departs from the city council of Redwood City. When coupled with 
her 10 years of service as a trustee of the Redwood City School 
District, she has served constituents for a remarkable 15 years. When 
coupled with her related professional endeavors over even more years, 
it's fair to say that it's been an extremely productive chapter of her 
life.
  Shelly has a distinguished career in education as an advocate. For 
the past five years, she led the nonprofit Californians Dedicated to 
Education Foundation. Under her leadership the organization hosted its 
first STEM symposium for 3,000 educators focused on diversifying the 
STEM pipeline, partnered with the California Department of Education by 
serving as a fiscal agent for grants secured by the department, created 
forums focused on standards implementation, and otherwise supported 
educational reform efforts throughout California. However, it was her 
service as a trustee of the school board that is her enduring 
contribution to education.
  Serving on a school board in California is not for the faint of 
heart. In one year the district had to cut its budget by 20 percent. 
Shelly did her duty, but she went further. She and her colleagues 
educated voters about the importance of the district, and ultimately a 
modest parcel tax of $67 passed, followed by a renewal at $85. These 
measures strengthened district finances enormously.
  The district is composed of 6700 pre-K to 8th grade students from 
around the globe. According to the district, Hispanic/Latino students

[[Page E1098]]

make up the largest ethnic group at 68 percent. Twenty-two percent of 
students are white, 6 percent are Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1 percent 
are African-American. Shelly always insisted that the programming for 
these students be first-rate, including but not limited to such 
important offerings as accelerated learning, developmental bilingual 
education, dual language immersion in Spanish, a gifted and talented 
education (GATE) program, Mandarin immersion and a program in music and 
the performing arts.
  Advocating for equal opportunity for a high-quality education for 
every student is both a personal and professional passion of Shelly 
Masur. In 2013, her advocacy was noted by the influential Silicon 
Valley Business Journal which named her one of the ``100 Women of 
Influence'' in Silicon Valley. She recently ended her term as board 
president of Redwood City 2020, a public-private partnership engaging 
800 plus community members to support the future of the school district 
and broader community development.
  As a city councilmember, Shelly was equally passionate about the need 
for more housing and often endured strong opposition to building 
housing for all. For example, a proposal to allow more affordable 
accessory dwelling units was slated for major downscaling until Shelly 
developed a compromise that gained six out of seven votes on the 
council. A property owner near an affordable housing development filed 
suit to prevent its construction. Shelly and her colleagues fought the 
suit and ultimately the nonprofit sponsor was able to develop 20 
affordable for-purchase new homes for very low and low income 
residents.
  In the past eight years, including five when Shelly served on the 
council, Redwood City, with a population of 79,000 residents, added 
over 4,000 new housing units. Presently, over 500 affordable units are 
either approved or under construction.
  Shelly Masur's professional experience includes extensive nonprofit 
work through seven youth and teen organizations including Teen Talk, 
the Adolescent Health Collaborative, the John Gardner Center at 
Stanford, and the Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation. Her 
husband, Josh, and her three children, Julia, Jacob and Noah, have also 
contributed to this remarkable woman's efforts, enduring countless 
hours without Shelly as she attended multiple late night meetings and 
forums over 21 years of personal and professional responsibilities. We 
thank them for their contribution to us all.
  Madam Speaker, there are many who talk about public service, but few 
who bear the price and produce such widespread acclaim for their 
unwavering support of the public's best interests. Whether working on 
adolescent health, housing, parks and recreation, kindergarten or city 
infrastructure investments, Shelly Masur demonstrated a knack for 
getting the job done. Unlike some in public life, her record is real. 
Our community appreciates her brilliance, insightfulness and honesty. 
If we've learned anything in 2020, public officials of this caliber are 
needed to make democracy strong. Fortunately, in Shelly Masur, we have 
a pillar of democracy. We can truly say, ``Thank you, Shelly. Job well 
done.''

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