For Immediate Release
November 19, 2007
Contact: Katie Merrill//510-883-9780
James Denton of Desperate Housewives Makes Special Appearance
Santa Cruz, CA – One hundred and fifty friends, supporters and Santa Cruz movers and shakers descended upon The Attic in downtown Santa Cruz Sunday evening to honor Santa Cruz Mayor Emily Reilly. The “Roast & Toast” was organized to pay tribute to Reilly as her term as mayor draws to a close and to celebrate her run for the California State Assembly.
Longtime friend James Denton, who stars on ABC’s hit show “Desperate Housewives,” was on hand as Reilly’s special guest. Denton, echoing the opinions of many in the room, said, “I’ve known Emily for a long time. We’d be lucky if there were more people in government like her.”
A half dozen community leaders took the stage to laud Reilly’s accomplishments and to recount their favorite stories about the mayor. The roasters included Tim Fitzmaurice, the Former Mayor of Santa Cruz; Joe Quigg, advocate for wheelchair access friendly developments; Zach Friend, the spokesperson for the City of Santa Cruz Police Department; Dick Wilson, who has been the City Manager of Santa Cruz for two decades; and Fred Keeley, Santa Cruz County Treasurer and Former Speaker pro tem of the California State Assembly.
Keeley, who held the Assembly seat from 1996-2002, said, “The people of the 27th Assembly District could not ask for a better nominee in June, and a better Assembly member in Sacramento, than Santa Cruz Mayor Emily Reilly.”
After thanking everyone in attendance, Reilly said that once in Sacramento, she intends to “bring the voice of the people to government, not preach government to the people.”
Currently, it is expected that this seat will be open when John Laird is termed out in 2009. If the term limits initiative passes in February 2008 allowing Assembly member Laird to stay in office, Reilly has said she will not run. The candidate filing deadline is March 2008.
