[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 192 (Monday, December 12, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING THE DEPARTURE OF THE HONORABLE MARIE BRIZUELA AFTER 41 
 REMARKABLE YEARS AS A TRUSTEE ON THE JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOARD

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 12, 2022

  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize my friend and 
colleague school board trustee Marie Brizuela as she departs public 
service after forty-one remarkable years in elective office.
  As noted on the district's website, ``The Jefferson Elementary School 
District serves Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade students from four 
contiguous areas in San Mateo County--the city of Daly City, the Town 
of Colma, unincorporated Broadmoor Village, and a small section of the 
city of Pacifica . . . the population of the four communities has a 
wide socio-economic, ethnic, and cultural diversity.''
  Marie Brizuela is the ``Guardian in Chief of the School District.'' 
For forty-one years, she has been entrusted by her community with 
guiding the education of its students. She has been passionate in her 
advocacy during her entire time on the school board. During my service 
in the California legislature, Marie was a regular caller, letter 
writer and advocate for school funding. She knows the impact of every 
dollar sent by California to her school district. She is intimately 
familiar with California's complex laws on school finance, staffing and 
board governance. When you walk into a library and you can't 
immediately find what you want to locate, you go to the reference 
librarian. When you are elected to the state legislature and need to 
know something about the schools, you go to Marie Brizuela.
  The Kent Awards are a countywide award for innovative school 
programs. Her fellow trustees from San Mateo County routinely selected 
Marie as a member of the team that determined who would receive this 
annual, prestigious, award. Her fellow trustees selected her as a 
representative to the California School Boards Association. She was a 
member of the district's personnel committee, the member-parent 
involvement committee, and the executive board of the PTA.
  Marie is also an adult education teacher in a nearby district. She 
has also served as a member of the California School Employees 
Association and on its board.
  As if all of this was not enough, Marie has owned a dance academy and 
served as Wardrobe Mistress at St. Ignatius High School.
  It is unusual for a person to hold two elective positions but nothing 
about Marie is typical. Her neighbors in Broadmoor Village elected her 
to the Broadmoor Police Protection Commission and she served as 
Secretary of the Broadmoor Property Owners Association. She was 
president of the Friends of the Daly City Library, Secretary of the 
History Guild of Daly City, and Past President of Westlake Catholic 
Women and the Daly City Civic Ballet, as well as the Mission Merchants 
Association. Somewhere in this whirlwind of activity across more than 
four decades she also found time to be a wife and mother. I want to 
thank her husband, Robert, and her children Anna Marie, Robbie, Angela, 
and Andrea for their willingness to share Marie with the community 
throughout her time in public and volunteer positions.
  The community served by the Jefferson Elementary School District is 
composed of working and professional families who love the sense of 
belonging that comes with living in their neighborhood. Marie is a 
person widely regarded with respect and affection because she is 
singularly focused on building community.
  On most days, the fog of Daly City and Broadmoor reliably burns off 
or moves offshore and the sunshine arrives. Marie Brizuela reliably 
shows up and volunteers or raises her hand to be sworn into public 
office. Both the predictable weather and Marie are welcomed by 
residents as leading indicators that the community is operating well. 
We thank her for her friendship and the enormous respect she has shown 
to others through her willingness to sacrifice on their behalf. If 
she's taking a break at her age, it's only to allow others to lead. 
They would do well to follow her outstanding example.

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