OAKLAND — John Sutter, a champion of San Francisco Bay Area transit, environmental preservation and open space efforts, died late last week. He was 92.
Born on July 15, 1928, Sutter grew up in Oakland, graduating from Oakland High School, Harvard University and Stanford Law School. He worked as a private attorney before later serving as an Alameda County deputy district attorney and an Alameda County Superior Court judge.
In September 1956, he married Elouise “Ellie” Conte, and the couple raised three daughters. She died April 13 at age 96.
In 1965, he was appointed to serve on the first San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, serving efforts to boost shoreline access and beat back fill-in proposals. He was a founding board member of a group that later became the Greenbelt Alliance.
From 1971 to 1982, he served three terms on the Oakland City Council, including a term as vice mayor.
From 1996 until his 2016 retirement, Sutter was a parks director for the Ward 2 district, representing Oakland, Piedmont, Lamorinda and part of Walnut Creek. He worked to expand access to lands, voting to add parcels when opportunity arose to ease park visibility.
“Here is this beautiful park, but people here can’t get to it,” Sutter said in 2015, in support of adding an access point in Moraga to the Las Trampas Regional Wilderness. “They have to drive 25 or 30 minutes to near Danville to find the nearest entrance.”
Sabrina Landreth, the current park district general manager, called Sutter “a remarkable champion who served for decades as a staunch environmental justice advocate pushing to increase open space and accessible public parks.”
In 1967, Sutter proposed the creation of a park to protect a portion of the West Oakland shoreline.
In a 2016 retirement profile by this news organization, Sutter remembers advocating for a greenbelt at the foot of the Bay Bridge by writing a letter asking for part of the former Oakland Army Base to be turned into a public park if the base should close.
In the summer of 2020, the regional park district dedicated a 22-acre area at the foot of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge as the Judge John Sutter Regional Shoreline.
“Sometimes you can get a lot done with perseverance and a little luck,” Sutter said.
Memorial plans are pending.
Judge John Sutter, former Oakland City Councilmember & East Bay Parks director, passed away this week at the age of 92. I was glad to know John, a stalwart environmentalist who fought for parks, against Bay landfill, & pioneered Oakland's very first bike lane in the 1970s. pic.twitter.com/kkUIsSZ6tc
— Robert Prinz (@prinzrob) May 14, 2021
Nearly every day, I enjoy a hike, walk or run in a @EBRPD park. So important to honor and remember those who had the vision to preserve, tend to, and protect our regional parks. Thank you @LibbySchaaf and @DanKalb for honoring Judge John Sutter for all he did for our community. https://t.co/QbKoGugWtW
— Ann O'Leary (@Ann_OLeary) May 19, 2021
Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.