Cindy Darling was elected to the City Council in November 2020. She is currently serving as Mayor Pro Tem. She is an 18 year resident of Walnut Creek, mother of two young adult children, and a community volunteer. She served on the Planning Commission from 2010 to 2020, twice as Chair.

Cindy grew up in Stockton and graduated from UC Davis with high honors in 1981 with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology. She worked for many years as a biologist for the State of California, several non-profits, and for the federal government. She served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary for the California Resources Agency and spent many years working to solve water conflicts in the Bay-Delta.

She met her husband Gary Darling while negotiating over the Los Vaqueros Project and they were married in Walnut Creek in 1996. Cindy and her husband now run a small consulting firm that focuses on water, environmental and energy innovation.