Cindy Silva has served on the Walnut Creek City Council since 2006 and has served four terms as mayor (2010-2011, 2012 to 2012-13, 2018-9 and 2022-23).

Prior to her election to the City Council, Cindy served three years on the Walnut Creek Planning Commission, two years during which the city was updating and adopting General Plan 2025.

As mayor in 2011, Cindy founded the now-annual Walnut Creek Community Service Day, which she still co-chairs. Over the years, Community Service Day amasses an average of 1,200 volunteers annually, has cumulatively generated nearly 50,000 hours of volunteer service for public facilities and local non-profits, and collected nearly 80,000 pounds of food and $50,000 for the local food bank. The Community Service Day program received a 2012 Helen Putnam Award for excellence from the League of California Cities.

In her council member role, Cindy has served on numerous council committees: Finance; Public Education; Housing and Community Development; Public Safety; Youth and Family Services; and several ad hoc committees including the city’s 2020-21 Economic Rebound Program and the North Downtown Specific Plan advisory committee (2016 to 2019). She has served as the council liaison to Walnut Creek Downtown, the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce, Rossmoor and the Diablo Regional Arts Association.

Regionally, Cindy represents Walnut Creek on and Contra Costa County on a number of public agencies:

• Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority (Recycle Smart), which manages local garbage and recycling services (chairing in 2015)
• East Bay Regional Communications System Authority, which built and operates the public safety radio system for Contra Costa and Alameda counties
• Association of Bay Area Governments Executive Board and Administrative Committee
• TRANSPAC, the Central County planning committee of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (2008-2010, chair in 2010)
• Contra Costa Mayors’ Conference (2011, 2013, 2019, 2023; chair in 2017

At the state level, Cindy serves as a Governor-appointed member and chair of the California Seismic Safety Commission.

Cindy is an active member of the League of California Cities. She has been a Cal Cities board member since 2015 and served state president in 2022. She currently serves on the Community and Economic Development advocacy committee of the National League of Cities as well as the Housing policy committee of Cal Cities. She is active at the regional level of Cal Cities and is past president of the East Bay regional division.

A resident of Walnut Creek since 1984, Cindy has been an active community volunteer for more than 30 years.

• Director, Walnut Creek Civic Pride Foundation, which raised more than $380,000 for the all-abilities playground at Heather Farm Park
• Board member and past treasurer, Walnut Creek Sister Cities International
• Director and past board chair, Hospice East Bay.
• Steering committee (2013-14), Walnut Creek Centennial
• Committee member (2008-2016), East Bay Women’s Conference

Other community involvement

Libraries: Cindy was a member of the capital campaign committee for the Walnut Creek Library, which raised more than $5 million for the new facility. Cindy co-chaired the Yes – A New Walnut Creek Library Committee, working for passage of Measure R (Fall 2005) and Proposition 81 (June 2006). She was a member of the campaign committee for Measure Q, which brought extended library hours to Walnut Creek (2002).

Schools: Cindy is a past PTSA president for Las Lomas High School (2003-2005) and past member of the Board of both the Las Lomas and Walnut Creek Intermediate parent organizations. She received the California State PTA Continuing Service Award in 2005. From 2005 to 2010, Cindy served on the Measure A Oversight Committee for the Acalanes High School District. She previously served on the district’s Revenue Committee. She is a former director of the Walnut Creek Education Foundation. In 2001, she co-chaired Measure C for the Walnut Creek School District, a parcel tax that funded lower class size for grades 4 through 8; she subsequently served on the committees for funding measures for the Walnut Creek School District and Acalanes High School District in 2002 and 2005.

Youth: Cindy served on the Board of Directors of the Walnut Creek Soccer Club for six years (1999-2004), managing fields, game scheduling, referees and registration. She is a past president and four-year member of the Board of the Walnut Creek Swim Conference (2001 to 2004). She is a past mother advisor of the Concord chapter of California Rainbow Girls, a Masonic youth organization.

Other background

Cindy has 40 years of business experience in marketing and communications in industries as diverse as telecommunications, biotech, and the non-profit sector. From 1980 to 2016, she owned her own consulting business.

A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California, Cindy has a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She is a native of Santa Cruz, California. She and her husband, Tom, have lived in Walnut Creek since 1984.