City Announces New Appointments, Welcomes Council Members

Lynwood’s city staff recently announced appointments made by the council on Jan. 7, the first meeting of 2014. Below is the new release issued by the city with details.

In their official first meeting of 2014, the City of Lynwood’s new City Council on Tuesday night announced their new appointments to the City’s four subsidiary boards and commissions with new City Councilman Jose Luis Solache appointing four new individuals he says will introduce a new generation of young professionals to how their local government works for them.

City Council Members every other year, or with every new election, nominate and appoint new candidates to the City’s Community Development Block Grant Board, the Public Safety/Traffic & Parking Commission, the Personnel Board and to the Planning Commission.

With the recent municipal election bringing in two new council members, and the re-election of an incumbent council member, came 12 new vacancies on the boards and commissions. Newly elected City Councilmen Solache and Edwin Hernandez each are required to appoint four candidates to the subsidiary public bodies.

“I’m excited to appoint four new young professionals to the boards and commissions, new individuals who have never been involved in politics but have expressed interests in bettering the community, who want to get involved in the community,” Councilman Solache said. Wanting to breathe new blood into the City’s four working boards and commissions, Councilman Solache – one of the youngest to be elected to the Lynwood City Council – said he was careful to appoint individuals from the community whom he knows want to make a difference in the City of Lynwood. 

What’s more, he said, all of them are graduates of Lynwood schools. New the City Council, Solache, who is also a Lynwood alumnus and is big on making a difference, in November vacated his long-term seat on the Lynwood Unified School District’s Board of Education to run for City Council. In making his appointments on Tuesday night, he also requested that his appointments serve only one year, instead of the regular two years.

Councilman Solache appointed Susana Medina to the CDBG Commission, Gary Hardie to the Personnel Board, Jenny Sierra to the Public Safety/Traffic & Parking Commission and Jorge Casanova to the Planning Commission.

Twenty-seven-year-old Hardie said he is looking forward to serving on the Personnel Commission. A product of Lynwood schools, Hardie said that it’s been a lifelong dream of his to give back to the community that gave him so much but he wasn’t sure how to get started. 

“I was honored when Jose [Councilman Solache] approached me about serving on the Personnel Commission,” Hardie said. “Growing up in this community, it is my duty to give back and what better way than to be a part of a commission that ensures that the people who work for the City are committed to giving back.”

New City Councilman Edwin Hernandez, serving as Mayor Pro Tem, also made his appointments to two of the boards and to one commission. Also requesting that his appointments only serve a one-year term, Hernandez appointed Marisela Perez to the CDBG Commission, Antonio Mungia to the Public Safety/Traffic & Parking Commission and Rev. Robert Robinson to the Personnel Board. Hernandez said that he would be making his fourth appointment to the Planning Commission during the next City Council Meeting.

Re-elected City Councilwoman Maria Santillan-Beas was also able to make appointments to the four boards and commissions, but she elected to reappoint the candidates whom she appointed two years ago. Santillan-Beas’ appointments are: Dion Cornelious, CDBG Commission; Rowland Becerra, Public Safety/Traffic & Parking Commission; Hilario Esparza, Personnel Board; and Billy Younger, Planning Commission.

Mayor Aide Castro, for the record, also announced that she would be reappointing the individuals she appointed two years ago to continue serving on the boards and commissions. Her appointments are: Evelia Hernandez, CDBG Commission; Arthur Martinez Jr., Public Safety/Traffic & Parking Commission; Paulette Bradley, Personnel Board; and Kenneth West, Planning Commission.

The appointed and confirmed candidates to the City’s two boards and two commissions were approved and confirmed by unanimous votes on Tuesday night by the City Council to serve either one or two years.

Councilman Solache said that with his election to the City Council he wants to make sure that individuals serving on these subsidiary public bodies be committed to making the City of Lynwood better. “It’s important to me, as a representative of this community, to make sure that people who serve on these boards and commissions aren’t yes people or no people, I want them to think independently and be involved and really be passionate about making our community better.”