Meet Diana Lowery

Councilmember Diana Lowery is serving her first term on the Stockton City Council, prior to her election in 2008.  

Her primary focus on the City Council is improving neighborhood safety by creating effective neighborhood watch programs (to engage/ engaging) residents in crime prevention efforts.  Diana has been a self-employed Stockton business owner for over 35 years. As a Councilmember, she has worked to reform city government, reducing expensive city fees and (eliminating/ reducing/ streamlining) bureaucracy to encourage job growth.

Recognizing the serious fiscal challenges faced by the City of Stockton, she has been a strong advocate for creative public - private partnerships to solve community needs and reduce general fund expenditures .        

Diana is an active community volunteer , including service as President of the Stockton Sister Cities Association. She also serves as Chair of the Italian International Governmental Sister Cities projects.  

Her expertise and heritage has been recognized by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with an appointment to the California Italian-American Task Force.

Most recognized by generations of Stockton's youth as "Sally-Save-Water", she has won several local, state and national awards and recognitions  for water conservation and pollution prevention educational programming.

Councilmember Lowery is a 4th generation Stocktonian; she is married to Wayne and has one son, Steven who is married and lives in Stockton with his wife Nikki and daughter Mae.

Diana's Accomplishments...

VISTAS – Volunteers help Stockton

Recognizing the serious fiscal challenges facing the City of Stockton, Diana Lowery looked for ways to deliver needed services in an efficient and cost-effective way.

Diana was the driving force behind the effort to establish VISTAS - Volunteers In Service to Aid Stockton - mobilizing hundreds of community volunteers to tackle projects previously were the responsibility of paid staff

Schools, churches and nonprofit organizations - along with hundreds of average citizens -were recruited to tackle a variety of important community projects.

New business loan program

A local business owner for 25 years, Diana Lowery knows that access to capital is a critical component in an aggressive jobs program.

The City of Stockton’s Small Business Micro-loan Program provides Stockton “for-profit” businesses with business loans of up to $30,000 (depending on the availability of funds) that can be used for operating capital, tenant improvements, furniture or the purchase of manufacturing equipment.

Successful applicants must demonstrate an ability to repay the loan and the micro-loan program is available to businesses that cannot meet traditional lending criteria. The Small Business Micro Loan program is funded with federal Community development Block Grants (CDBG) and is in partnership with the San Joaquin Delta College Small Business Development Center.

Miracle Mile Improvements

Enlisting a key community supporter, the University of the Pacific, and local community groups including Stockton Beautiful, University Neighborhood Association and the Miracle Mile Merchant’s Association, Councilmember Lowery led the effort to improve Pacific Avenue south of the Calaveras River.

An $85,000 grant from the University will pay for the first phase of the plan, a landscape design, under the direction of local Stockton firms KSN Engineering and Gamboni Landscape Architecture.

Future construction funding will come from grants and donations raised by the City of Stockton and the University of the Pacific.

SOS – Save our (postal) Station!

When the Federal Government proposed closing the Tuxedo Neighborhood Post Office, Diana organized neighbors to protest the government’s misguided effort.

“ Our local post office is an essential part of the Miracle Mile neighborhood, said Lowery. Many of our residents are older and driving across town to mail a package is a real challenge.  Preserving our local post office united our neighborhood and they heard us all the way to Washington DC”.

Fight Crime – Light up the night!

Councilmember Lowery brought PG&E, the Siemens Company and the City of Stockton together to create a new program to provide free energy efficient light bulbs to residents. Increasing porch lighting is a strong deterrent to crime, particularly burglaries and assaults according to San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore.

“Criminals tend to avoid well-lit homes, said Moore. Increasing lighting around the home, particularly the porch area, is an effective way to prevent crime”.

Councilmember Lowery’s program is a pilot project within the Miracle Mile neighborhood. With additional funding, it is hoped that the program can be expanded throughout Stockton.