Simran Kohli is a 2024 Ronald O. Loveridge Summer Fellow and a political science administrative studies major at the University of California, Riverside. She can be reached via LinkedIn.

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Like many elected officials, Assembly Woman Sharon Quirk-Silva’s political career began at the local level. The former Fullerton mayor quickly discovered that the jump from local to state office was a big one. Even navigating the physical space of the Capitol was challenging. But she soon found that many of the lessons she learned as a mayor served her well as an assembly woman.

We sat down with Quirk-Silva to explore why she first ran for office, how to balance multiple roles, the differences between local and state offices, and the lessons she learned along the way. Her experience offers a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities in public service, particularly for local officials with statewide ambitions.

Our conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Simran Kohli: At the beginning of your career, you worked in public education. What prompted a shift to run for mayor and enter local politics?

Asm. Sharon Quirk-Silva: There was a state program almost 25 years ago called Healthy Start. Our school district was participating and they asked teachers to interview, and I did. It was a collaborative, community-based program that would bring resources to our schools in Fullerton. I then applied to be on a city commission and that was kind of the beginning of my stepping into city business. I became a parks and recreation commissioner while teaching and then after two years decided to run for city council.

How was the balance of being a city commissioner while also being a teacher full-time?

My entire professional career has always been a little packed because I was not only a commissioner and a teacher: I also had four younger kids at that time. I’ve always told women who are working, there are some things that have to go. You’re not going to be folding every piece of laundry or having every dinner look exceptionally pretty — you just manage to multitask.

What was the transition to council like?

It was very difficult. When I was elected to city council, the demographics were very different. I was the only woman on the city council and many times the only woman in a room. It wasn’t just the city council members: It was all the managers of different departments, police chiefs — all of these leaders within my community were men. It was definitely unusual for a woman who was teaching elementary school to be taken seriously. 

In 2012 and 2016 you reentered the political scene as an assembly member. What was your biggest takeaway when running for election at the state level?

You have to declare a party and I was a Democrat. I’ve always been a Democrat, but many people knew me as a classroom teacher and as a council woman in a nonpartisan seat. Many voters told me that they really liked me, had always voted for me, but it would in fact be the first time they were voting for a Democrat.

This was a seat that had been held by a Republican and it was a battleground seat. And because I had been a classroom teacher and a council woman, I hadn’t spent any time in Sacramento at all. There was a very quick learning curve of everything from the physical space to understanding how to move bills forward.

What was it like serving as mayor? 

I wasn’t initially a mayor, not my first term. Being a mayor, your workload increases 100% because people want to talk to their mayor.

I had very public office hours. We did walk-and-talks. We did many public events. I would return calls, and many times their first response was “Thank you for calling me back.” They were still angry about something, but many times they just wanted somebody to listen.

We couldn’t solve every issue. Sometimes the issues were neighbor-to-neighbor disputes. Sometimes the issues were potholes or businesses that people didn’t want to come into the city. But once they saw that I would listen, they would mostly calm down and be thankful that I responded. 

What’s been the biggest difference between the two constituencies? 

That constituents really like to talk to their local electees. As a matter of fact, my husband became mayor while I was an assembly member. They’re happy to see both of us, but they really see their local government as their place to get things done at the state level. Even though we are doing many types of legislation that affect them — whether it’s housing or homelessness or mental health or transportation — they don’t always see the connection to them. It’s a little more nuanced, and they’re not always following that legislation.

I have kept the same practice as when I was on council: doing Walk ‘n Talks, doing meet and greets, doing coffee and conversations. I do find the same response — that they really appreciate it. We do have people who will come who aren’t always happy with every vote I’ve made and many times they’ll share that. But they’ll always say, “I don’t agree with you on everything, but I appreciate your leadership and your accessibility.”

What do you believe are the strongest skills an elected official should have when it comes to supporting their community?

At the state level, it’s keeping a very close relationship with your local community, making sure that you are talking to them and have a door open about these critical issues that they get concerned about. Even if we don’t always agree on an issue, or I don’t always vote the way they would hope, they appreciate that dialogue.

I also bring Sacramento back to the district. One of the things that I’m really proud of is Breakfast with the Assembly Member, where we bring state-elected officers — the Lieutenant Governor, the Treasurer, the Secretary of State — to have a conversation with the constituents. These have been very popular.

When serving in municipal government, what was the most significant or impactful change you have seen affect your community?

I started on city council in 2004. Over those eight years, development was a big issue. But what really changed dramatically from that time has been our increase in homelessness and our lack of housing production.

You also have young graduates of the education community. I have Cal State, Fullerton. I have Cypress College, Fullerton College, and now Cerritos College. And so I’m concerned about the affordability for young individuals who are educated in our communities and whether they can continue to work here and afford to live here. So, affordability, housing, and homelessness.

What’s a cause or issue outside your current responsibilities that you’re passionate about, and why?

I’m always going to be very passionate about making sure that people have access to important elements in our community — whether it’s access to medical care, mental health, or housing. Right now, I have an audit being run through the state for Orange County related to housing vouchers. My interest in doing that is to make sure that the neediest are getting these support services, and that there isn’t a back door for people to get access when these very limited resources come up.

This is my last term and I will continue to stay connected in those areas because those are the communities falling through the cracks. How do we prevent people from falling into homelessness? It really goes back to all the way before they have that eviction letter. Because once they’re in that place, it’s really difficult.

Is there anything else that you would like to say about your role as an elected member?

As an elementary school teacher, I used to write a list of “I words” on the board. And even with third graders, the first word was integrity — always trying to do what’s right when others aren’t watching. All too often, we see headlines of fraud. Right now, there’s a big case breaking open in Orange County, with a $10 million investment that was supposed to go to senior citizens. And now there are accusations that in fact those dollars have gone missing, and it was a supervisor’s daughter who received those through the nonprofit.

These are just things that should not happen. We need to have safeguards, but it’s really up to the individual who is elected to remember why they got elected, who they represent, and understand that there are rules and to behave that way.

Your last term is coming up. Do you have any future plans for running at the national level?

I do not. My career as an elected has lasted 20 years other than a two-year break. However, I still would like to work in this space. Maybe it would be housing, maybe it would be mental health, and I may even return to teaching. We’ll see.