Rudy Ramirez served the city of Chula Vista for eight consecutive years before he was termed out of office in 2014. But his work in public service goes far beyond that.
Ramirez, 56, first got involved with public service by fixing up sidewalks in Southwest Chula Vista, the neighborhood he has lived in for most of his life.
His desire to continue helping his community lead him to join the land-use group Crossroads II. He eventually became one of the founders of Southwest Civic Association.
He quickly got active with the city by sitting on the Board of Ethics, was on the General Plan Update Steering Committee and he helped put together the Urban Core Specific Plan, which lays out the urban development of the city.
Then in 2006 he decided to further serve his community by being on the other side of things.
He ran for city council and won.
When he first took office in December 2006 it was the beginning of the Great Recession where many tough and painful financial decisions were made to balance the budget such as eliminating jobs and consolidating departments.
“I happened to have the misfortune of having served [on the city council] during a very difficult time,” he said.
“Despite the [financial difficulty] we got a lot done, there was a lot done and a fair amount done in Southwest.”
Ramirez said during this time, the city tore down the power plant, entitled the Bayfront and acquired the land for a potential university, all high budgetary items. In 2010 Ramirez won re-election; he termed out four years later.
With the city of Chula Vista now implementing electoral districts for the first time in its history, Ramirez is looking to get back on the dais.
‘The reason why I’m so interested in this [city council] race is that it is giving me an opportunity to focus on a neighborhood, Southwest Chula Vista,” he said.
If elections remained citywide, Ramirez said he would not be sure if he would have been a city council candidate.
“The district elections is what attracted me,” he said.
Ramirez said he is a Southwest Chula Vistan through and through. He attended the school system in Southwest Chula Vista and owned a steel contracting business for 30 years along Main Street.
If elected, Ramirez said one of his priorities for the district includes getting a new fire station for Southwest Chula Vista because the current station is old and worn down. Ramirez said he would dip into the city’s reserves to pay for a new fire station.
Ramirez does not support a ballot measure for a half-cent sales tax increase that is said to bring in about $16 million a year for ten years to fund infrastructure.
Ramirez rebuffs any claims by his opponent Mike Diaz that he is a carpetbagger for moving out of the district in 2012 to run for the 79th Assembly District.
“Most of my life I’ve been active in this community, I’m certainly not a carpetbagger. That is a crazy really off-the-wall accusation that has no basis or fact at all,” he said. “(Moving) had little to do with politics. It wasn’t my idea to move east, it was a family decision.”
Ramirez also dismisses the notion that he is a career politician. He said he is a career steel contractor, not a career politician.
