January 25, 2008

District 3 Supervisor Pete McHugh elected Chair of the Board of Supervisors

By Supervisor Pete McHugh
Special to the Times

County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors has elected Supervisor Pete McHugh as Chair of the Board of Supervisors for 2008. McHugh will complete his third and final term as a County Supervisor this year and he has already served as Board Chair twice.

Supervisor Pete McHugh

“I am honored to be Chair of the Board again,” said Supervisor McHugh. “I fully realize that 2008 is going to be another challenging year for us; however, I am confident that the diversity, talent and dedication of our employees will enable us to continue delivering essential services.”

Supervisor McHugh’s focus in 2008 will be improving the County’s financial sustainability. He will outline initiatives and strategies at the State of the County Address on Tuesday, January 29, at 11:00 a.m., during the next Board of Supervisors' meeting.

Supervisor McHugh is serving his 10th and final year as Chair of the Board's Finance and Government Operations Commit-tee and his 12th year as Vice-Chair of the Board's Housing, Land Use, Environment and Transportation Committee. Pre-viously, Supervisor McHugh served as Chair of the Board's Public Safety and Justice Committee for two years, as well as a Board of Directors member for the Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority.

Prior to joining the Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Mc-Hugh served for twenty years on the Milpitas City Council. He was first elected to the Milpitas City Council in 1976, and became the first elected, not appointed, Mayor of Milpitas in 1978. He then served as Mayor and City Council Member until his election to the Board of Supervisors in 1996.

Supervisor Pete McHugh was born in Boston, Massachusetts and after graduating from Boston Latin High School, he attended Boston University's College of Business Administra-tion. He then moved to Southern California where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the Univer-sity of California at Los Angeles. After 30 years of employment, Supervisor Mc-Hugh retired from IBM Corporation, having worked in the accounting and software development areas.

McHugh is married to Gail Marie Parnagian, a teacher, and is the father of two children: Sean Michael McHugh and Tatia Marie McHugh. He has been a resident of Milpitas since 1973.