Nora Vargas was sworn into office for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors as District 1 representative on Jan. 4. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony was held virtually.
Vargas defeated her opponent, State Sen. Ben Hueso, in the November election. Vargas served on Southwestern College’s governing board since 2018. She was sworn in by her goddaughters Fatima and Farah Jimenez. Vargas as the first Latina and person of color to serve as a San Diego County supervisor.
After the ceremony Vargas requested a moment of silence for the many lives lost in the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“I hold all these families and their friends close to my heart and to all of those who are fighting in our hospitals, to those who are at home isolating and nervous having been diagnosed with COVID,” she said, “you have my commitment that I will do everything I can so that you and your families have access to county resources, so you may daily survive while you are trying to heal.”
Vargas said communities have been hit hard by the pandemic and everyone should do everything within their power to fight the pandemic. She also highlighted existing inequities in the healthcare system.
“I want to thank our first responders, healthcare providers, healthcare workers, essential employees, grocery workers, farm workers, community organizations and our county employees who have been on the front end day in and day out for months now, putting their own lives at risk to be sure that we stay safe and healthy,” she said.
Vargas said family-owned businesses are the economic engine of the community and many are hanging by a thread.
“Thank you for your sacrifices,” she said. “They have not gone in vain. I know these past months have not been easy and are terribly frustrating as you try to keep your businesses afloat and your families safe and healthy. I will continue the fight to obtain the relief you need to keep operations going and recover from losses as well as provide support to ensure that you are able to reopen safely.
“To our teachers who have gone above and beyond to support our families during these troubling times, thank you for being there for our students.”
Vargas said she is committed to governing with intentionality, integrity, empathy, transparency and to challenge the status quo.
“We are at a crossroads,” she said. “We must work together collectively to break down the barriers of policies and procedures that for years have disproportionately affected the health and economic well-being of our community.
“We are highly divided and polarized as a society. But here we can stop the rhetoric, stop politicizing public health, and we have hope by way of a vaccine that is the safest and most effective way to combat COVID-19.”
Vargas said a pandemic that has always existed — systemic racism — must be dismantled, and it is everyone’s responsibility to act and to lead with intention.
“The disparity gap continues to divide our communities, from children going to sleep hungry, students and teachers sleeping in their cars because the rent is still too high, to our families going to our emergency rooms instead of having access to their own doctors and affordable healthcare,” she said.
“Our communities have been impacted by American environmental injustices for decades. Our communities in District 1 have been disproportionately affected by COVID and this pandemic has really magnified the housing and wage inequities and the health disparities,” she said.
“Mitigating the impacts of the pandemic, focusing on economic recovery are my priorities.”
