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Photograph by Sarah Gaffney
Designing Woman: City planner Sharon Fierro went into planning to make the world a better place for people to live.
Public Citizen
Back to the Drawing Board
Planner Sharon Fierro says the Orchard City's future is bright
By Sarah Gaffney
Sharon Fierro, senior planner with the City of Campbell, has a soothing, soft-spoken way about her that reminds one of a favorite aunt. So it comes as no surprise that, when asked to personify Campbell, the city official compares her hometown to an Aunt Mae or an Uncle Bob.
"I think Campbell would be like your favorite aunt or uncle," says Fierro, a graduate of Blackford High School. "Someone who really cares about you, forgives you your faults and wants to see you do well."
The former teacher and law student has worked for the city for the past two years. Prior to that, she was a planner for Daly City. When she heard of the opening in the Campbell Planning Department, she was eager to return home.
"This was kind of a coming back home for me. I went to Campbell schools and have lived in the West Valley area, so it's a lot of fun to be able to plan in a community where you have so much history," Fierro says. "It's fun shaping the future, improving the quality of life and making the world a better place for people."
Fierro and the planning staff are working on updating the city's General Plan, a blueprint for the city's growth in the next 20 years. Fierro sees a future of more home-based businesses, which will strengthen neighborhoods and the services surrounding them.
"There's a lot more people operating out of their home doing consulting work. I think that's going to have an impact on the way we live," Fierro says. "We're going to see a little less commuting ... more focus on neighborhoods and quality of life issues. Neighborhoods will actually be a vital part of a business network."
The Campbell native has seen the city's many changes. She worked summers picking apricots in the Valley's orchards and used to take the city bus into downtown San Jose to see Elvis movies. She saw the construction of the original Pruneyard Shopping Center. And now as the downtown changes, expanding its boundaries to the Pruneyard and the Campbell Community Center, she takes great pride in being part of that change.
"I read in the Willow Glen Resident a letter that someone wrote saying, 'Gee, why can't we be like downtown Campbell?'," Fierro says. "And I thought, well, that's neat. ... I work in Campbell, and Campbell is really coming around. ... We're making change that will affect the future, and that's exciting."
Affecting the future and people's lives are what motivates Fierro in her job as a city planner. A child of the '60s, she has a self-proclaimed idealism that's rare to find on the eve of the next millennium.
"When I was in school, it was in the era of the Peace Corps and Kennedy. My generation was really inspired by public service," Fierro says. "We thought we could make a difference, and I still feel that way. It's why I taught and why I was attracted to planning. ... I really wanted to make a difference on a global scale. Now I realize that the most important thing I can do is make a difference in your life ... and make the world a good place for people to live."
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Campbell, California
