Meet John McCormick
Candidate for Lafayette City Council
John and his wife, Colleen, have lived in Lafayette for over thirty years. They met while marching together in the Cal Band at UC Berkeley (Go Bears!) They moved to Lafayette to raise their family, and their two children attended Happy Valley Elementary, Stanley Middle School, and Acalanes High School.
They founded Lamorinda Music in downtown Lafayette in 2009 and have expanded multiple times in subsequent years. They are true “hands-on” business owners with deep ties to the community.
John was in the software development industry for almost thirty years, holding executive product management and leadership positions with several Bay Area tech companies. He worked in small startups and large multinational corporations, where he ran business units with over one hundred employees worldwide.
While working in the tech industry, he volunteered with LPIE/LASF for over twenty years and was their main website and software technical resource. While their son was in high school, he and Colleen were part of the founding group of parents that established the Acalanes Performing Arts Booster group. Seven years ago, John retired from the software industry to focus on the family business and to give back to his community.
John received his bachelor’s in engineering from UC Berkeley and recently achieved one of his bucket-list goals: getting his master’s in history from Harvard. Based on his research at Harvard, he wrote a book titled “Chinese in Napa Valley, the Forgotten Community That Built Wine Country,” which was published early last year. Over the eighteen months, he has spoken at over twenty public events to over one thousand people, telling this forgotten story to ensure the contributions of those Chinese laborers are recognized.
He successfully got the story of the Chinese workers added to the curriculum in the Napa Schools and worked with a cross-organizational group to install an educational sign in a city-owned park overlooking the site of Napa’s former Chinatown. Recently, he was involved in a project to install a monument in the St. Helena Cemetery honoring the Chinese men and women buried there. In recognition of his efforts on behalf of Napa Valley immigration history, he was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for the Napa County Historical Society.
John has been on the Lafayette Chamber Board of Directors for seven years and its Executive Committee for the last five years. He served as president of the Chamber Board for two consecutive years while we were all managing the effects of the pandemic. During his time on the Chamber Board and as chair of the Chamber’s Business Issues/Governmental Affairs Committee, he frequently communicated with the city regarding pending state legislation, the health of our business community, and what was best for Lafayette. He frequently volunteers at the Chamber’s various community events like the Lafayette Art & Wine Festival, Taste of Lafayette, the Res Run, and the Rock the Plaza summer concert series. As a business owner and long-time resident, he has a keen interest in the growth and sustainability of Lafayette and maintaining the character of our downtown and our neighborhoods while following relevant state and local laws and regulations. In 2022, he was honored to be chosen Lafayette’s Businessperson of the Year.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Park Theater Trust, a remarkable community-based non-profit dedicated to restoring, renovating, and reopening the Park Theater in downtown Lafayette.
John served on the Lafayette Planning Commission in 2023 and was Chair of Lafayette’s Land Acknowledgment Task Force, where a group of citizens worked closely with the city to craft and approve a Land Acknowledgment statement to be read at public events and a variety of additional actions to help educate our community about the Indigenous people who lived here for hundreds of years before Lafayette was established. He currently serves on the Lafayette School District’s Citizen's Bond Oversight Committee as its chair.
When Council Member Teressa Gerringer resigned from the City Council last year, John applied and was chosen from seven applicants to serve until the next regularly scheduled election in November. While on the Council, John has worked tirelessly to ensure he is up to speed on the issues before it. He strives to understand all perspectives of an issue and to represent the best long-term interests of the citizens of Lafayette at all times.
On behalf of the citizens of Lafayette, John is now on the Board of Directors for Marin Clean Energy (MCE) and RecycleSmart (the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority.) He also serves on the Personnel and Legislative Committees of the RecycleSmart Board.
Click here for John’s professional resume
Summary of John’s Community Activities:
- Council Member, Lafayette City Council – 2024-Present
- Crime Prevention Commission, Primary Council Representative
- Youth Commission, Alternate Council Representative
- Marin Clean Energy (MCE) Board Member
- Solid Waste Authority (RecycleSmart) Board Member
- Chair, Lafayette Land Acknowledgement Task Force - 2023
- Commissioner, Lafayette Planning Commission – 2023
- Chair, Citizen’s Bond Oversight Committee, Lafayette School District – 2023-Present
- Lafayette Businessperson of the Year - 2022
- Board of Directors, Lafayette Chamber of Commerce – 2016-Present
- President, Lafayette Chamber of Commerce – 2020, 2021
- Member, Executive Committee – 2017-Present
- Chair, Business Issues/Governmental Affairs Committee, 2019-Present
- Board of Directors, Park Theater Trust, Lafayette – 2021-Present
- Board of Directors, Napa County Historical Society – 2024-Present
- Red Cross Platelet Donor, 100+ donations – 2017-2023
- Founding Member, Acalanes Performing Arts Boosters (APAB) – 2011-2013
- Webmaster, Lafayette Partners in Education, Lafayette – 1999-2019
- California Repercussions Marching Band – 2010-Present
- California Alumni Marching Band – 1989-Present
- Co-Chair, All-Volunteer Lamorinda Marching Band – 1995-Present
Ready to take the next step?
Let’s work together to keep Lafayette a wonderful place to live, work, and play.