Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan died Wednesday after being hit by a car while walking her dog, her office said. She was 72.
Chan was struck by the vehicle while crossing a street in Alameda with her dog, Maggie, and was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland, where doctors pronounced her dead, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Chan, a Democrat, was first elected to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in 1994. She later served in the state Assembly from 2000 to 2006, and was the first Asian American Assembly Majority leader.
In 2010, she successfully ran for her first seat on the Board of Supervisors, and has served since then.
“During her 30-year career in public service, Supervisor Chan had been a staunch advocate for children, families, the elderly, affordable housing, and health care for the uninsured,” the supervisor’s chief of staff, Dave Brown, said in a statement.
Chan is survived by two children and two grandchildren. Her family “thanks the first responders and medical staff that provided wonderful care to Supervisor Chan, and they request privacy at this time,” Brown said.
Alameda police said in a statement that the crash was under investigation and that the driver of the car was cooperating with investigators.
In a statement, Denyse Trepanier, board president of the advocacy group Bike Walk Alameda, noted that Chan was hit near an intersection known for a high number of injuries from vehicles. Officials had cited the roadway in Alameda’s Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to end serious crashes in the city by 2035.
“But at this time, it’s still just a plan,” Trepanier said. “It’s long past time to take action and make the safety improvements that we know, with certainty, will reduce the likelihood and severity of crashes like this.”