[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 212 (Tuesday, December 15, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1143]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                     IN HONOR OF SHAWN CHRISTIANSON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 15, 2020

  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize a great local 
leader in my district, Shawn Christianson, as she leaves the 
Hillsborough Town Council after eight years. She is departing public 
life after a quarter century of volunteer and elective service to her 
community. She will be deeply missed.
  Shawn Christianson is brilliant, honest, upbeat, and leaves a 
whirlwind in her wake as she moves through life. She brought her 
boundless energy and positive attitude to an extraordinary number of 
activities, all while working full time in a San Francisco legal 
practice, where she is now a partner, I might also point out she raised 
two children, Spencer and Conor, at the same time.
  For over 14 years before being named Citizen of the Year in 2010, 
Shawn served on the North School Site Council and on the North Parent 
Group Executive Board. She was President of the Association of Parent 
Groups and then became Vice President of the Hillsborough Schools 
Foundation. In 2001/02, she was part of a small group of persons who 
led a successful effort to pass school bonds. Even after her children 
graduated, she remained committed to the schools and in 2005 was 
elected to the school board, serving four years including one as board 
president. In her role, she was instrumental in the design and 
reconstruction of four schools.
  As if working full time as a bankruptcy attorney and raising two 
children were not enough, Shawn also advised the Bay Area Women's and 
Children's Center, an agency serving children in families with little 
or no income. At one point she was on the board of directors of a local 
children's museum, and on the Cal Berkeley Parents Board. To top off 
her frenetic pace, she coached a mock trial team at her son's high 
school. These activities were in the days when ``Zoom'' was a 
description of speed and not shorthand for pandemic reality. Just 
imagine the number of hours spent by Shawn in study and advocacy as she 
met--in a group at countless points on the map--to uphold these 
commitments. Her husband, Philip McLeod, might be forgiven if he 
thought he'd married a Ferrari instead of a loving wife, mother and 
formidable attorney.
  Shawn was elected to the Hillsborough city council in 2012 and has 
served continuously since, including as Mayor since 2018 (her second 
time as Mayor), and Vice Mayor from 2016 to 2018. When presiding during 
council meetings, she handled difficult matters with grace and tact, 
seeking consensus despite the passions of the moment. We know Shawn as 
a voice of reason, but as she wields the gavel during a tense meeting 
her pitch is authoritative because she always comes prepared. Woe be to 
advocates who try to gloss over weaknesses in a proposal hoping that no 
one will notice. Shawn Christianson reads footnotes. She'll notice.
  Like the residents she serves, Shawn is dedicated to maintaining the 
natural beauty of Hillsborough, its small-town atmosphere, preserving 
its architectural heritage and maintaining strong finances. Despite 
upheavals in our nation's economy, Hillsborough's budget is balanced 
each year and its long-term fiscal outlook is bright.
  As a partner in the Buchalter law firm, Shawn focuses her practice on 
insolvency, receiverships, and complex litigation with an emphasis on 
technology related issues. She's argued at both the trial level and at 
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Her list of professional 
accomplishments takes up a full page of small type, but includes 
serving for two terms on the Board of Directors and as a Director-At-
Large of the International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring 
Confederation and as both the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Bar 
Association of San Francisco's Commercial Law and Bankruptcy section. 
Shawn is a trained mediator and has been a Resolution Advocate on the 
Bankruptcy Dispute Resolution Panel.
  With one notable exception, I can think of no one in the country who 
seems to enjoy going through bankruptcy. With Shawn on your team, I can 
think of no one better to be at your side.
  Madam Speaker, in our modern economy, billions are made through the 
construction of fictional heroes of boundless powers proving themselves 
through unending challenges. Shawn Christianson is the real deal. As 
she retires to private and professional life, we thank her for a 
generation of contributions on our behalf. If you turn off the 
electricity to the world of a fictional hero, it fades to black. If you 
remove Shawn Christianson from public life, her accomplishments will 
live for decades. I thank Shawn for her friendship and outstanding 
example. In a democracy, there is no higher compliment than to say that 
you made a difference. She certainly did and we--her friends and 
neighbors--are forever in her debt.

                          ____________________