Forty years ago, I began my career as a realtor in La Mirada. A home was about $53,000. Today, they’re around $500,000. Life is about change. Change is inevitable and our City Council election on March 7, 2017 is no exception.

In the past, candidates had to appeal to the entire city to get elected. I know, because I go way back to the days of Lou Piltz. Where church retreats, the Kiwanis Club, Little League games along with Easter Egg Hunts and festivals, was the way to show your commitment to our city.

But this past summer the Mexican-American Legal Defense Education Fund (M.A.L.D.E.F) threatened the city with a major lawsuit, if they didn't create a Latino District. The way state law was written our Council had no choice but to comply.

The result is La Mirada has five new Council Districts. Districts 1 and 2 will be up for election in March. The Latino District is #1 and despite District #2 having a healthy 41% Latino population, no Latino chose to run.

MALDEF had claimed a plethora of complaints by Latinos that no Latino could win a City Council seat in La Mirada. MALDEF’s problem is that our current Mayor Steve DeRuse is Latino! MALDEF’s goal was to only elect Latinos and they failed.

So there it is in a nut shell. Council seat #1, might elect a Latina and Council seat #2, has no Latino candidate.

Finally, please vote on March 7, 2017.