LOS ANGELES – If the Council District 6 Special Primary Nominating Elections in May are any indication, Cindy Montañez is likely to become the frontrunner in the coming CD6 special elections in July.
During the May special primaries, Montañez garnered 43 percent of the votes, while her next opponent in the race, Nury Martinez, only logged in at 24 percent.
“I was extremely honored and happy that we got so much incredible support from all over the district,” Montañez said.
Montañez said that a “tremendous amount of support” came from practically all over her district, which includes Van Nuys, Panorama City, Arleta, Sun Valley, North Hollywood, and North Hills.
Montañez said that this outcome in the primaries signifies a continuing support from people that she had already served in the past.
At age 25, she was already serving under the San Fernando City Council.
At 27, Montañez was elected as San Fernando City Mayor. She became the youngest ever to be elected to the California state assembly at age 28.
“People in that district know me, they respect the work that I’ve done, and they want to be supportive so that I can continue to make a difference and improve the quality of life there in the San Fernando Valley,” Montañez said.
Having been raised in the Valley by immigrant parents from Mexico, Montañez said that she is proud to represent a culturally diverse district, and that this diversity represents the strength of the district, and even the entire City of LA.
Staunch Pinoy supporters
Her electoral victory in the Valley area (particularly in Panorama City) can be widely credited to the staunch support of the Filipino community for Montañez’s candidacy.
According to Montañez, in a voting precinct near in the St. Genevieve area, Filipinos came out in troves to vote for her – allowing her to win the precinct by as much as 70 percent.
Montañez said that the victory in that precinct was chiefly due to her strong relationships with the different Filipino community groups in the area, which include the Knights of Columbus, the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce, among others.
“I practically feel like I’m adopted as a Filipino myself,” Montañez shared.
Montañez admitted that apart from the political mobilization done by the Pinoys in her area, she also loved the kind of atmosphere they bring during celebrations. She loves the fact that Filipino culture has a lot in common with Mexican culture due to the Spanish influence, making her feel right at home at Pinoyparties.
She also loves Pinoy food.
Strong family, strong community
Being ‘adopted’ by the Pinoy community, Montañez identified multiple issues that relate to the Filipino community in the district that she would like to work on. Like all immigrant communities, within the Filipino community, there is a real need to talk about immigration reform, Montañez said.
She also pointed out that the seniors and the grandparents (especially the Filipino veterans) ought to be given due care and recognition because they serve as the “moral base” for the community, and they keep the district culturally strong.
“There’s a strong sense of family where it goes through the generations. So we have to take care of the senior population,” Montañez said.
And in talking about the seniors, she also said that there is a need to connect the seniors to the youth through strong education.
She cited the St. Genevieve School as an example of an excellent educational institution widely supported by the Filipinos in the area, contributing to the strength of the district. The best way to encourage “strong academic standards” is to engage in partnerships with the private sector to ensure that local schools are adequately funded and are equipped with the best educational equipment available, Montañez said.
Small to medium businesses need to be given the chance to proliferate in the district, she also pointed out. Montañez said that one of her platforms include advocating for local communities to support local businesses to spur healthy economic activity in the district.
She looks to accomplish this by encouraging residents to shop locally, and by getting local businesses to secure big contracts that are otherwise awarded to bigger firms from outside the district. This way, the money generated stays in the district, and is not going out to outside investors.
Montañez also looks to make CD6 as an attractive place for investors to bring in their businesses. This, she said, is part of her approach to upholding the district’s economic strength. Another key reason for strengthening the local businesses in the district is that these businesses support families, Montañez said.
“I grew up in a small business environment. And if something is hard for the businesses, it’s not just some Wall Street financial company that’s getting impacted, it’s real families,” she added.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend June 29 – July 2, 2013 Sec A pg.8)
