Member-at-Large Elections for the Wilmington Neighborhood Council this Saturday

This Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. community members, residents, property owners, stakeholders, workers, worshipers, people who have any connection to Wilmington will have the opportunity to vote for the Member-at-Large of their choice to fill the three open seats for a two-year term on the Wilmington Neighborhood Council (WNC).

Elections will be held at the Wilmington Senior Citizen Center, 1371 Eubank Ave. Voters must be at least 16 years of age and might have to provide identification. If you are undocumented or a permanent resident you still qualify to vote.

The council is also looking for volunteers to help at the polls. Community service hours for school can also be granted for volunteering. If you're interested in engaging in local politics and lend a hand this Saturday contact WNC Chair, Cecilia Moreno, at cmoreno@portla.org or call her at (310) 732-7659.  

Here's information on each candidate.

Sylvia Arredondo

Anthony Quezada

No photo by Anthony Quezada was provided.

I am eager to become a member of the Wilmington Neighborhood Council governing board, so that I can use my affiliation with Amvet Post 33, as well as my relationships with Congresswoman Janice Hahn and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to support and assist the people of Wilmington. My intention is to focus on the needs of veterans, senior veterans and their families with all the resources at my disposal.

(This is a statement Quezada provided to the WNC in his candidate filing form.)







Gladys Padilla

Gladys Padilla is a young Latina passionate about engaging youth, empowering women and building stronger communities in Wilmington. She was born to parents who immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. They taught her the values of resilience, perseverance, and honesty. She is a first generation university graduate with a bachelor’s degree in political science and was nominated as 2009 New Progressive Leader in Washington, DC.


Her work experience ranges from being a volunteer at a Rape Crisis Center, answering 24hr-hotline calls and advocating for survivors during SART exams, to living in Washington, DC and working for Center for American Progress in their Ethnic Media department, developing press releases on topics of healthcare and immigration. Currently she works at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center providing social case management services to patients who are living with HIV.
In 2009, she co-founded an unofficial organization Wilmington Enrichment Community Artist Network (W.E.C.A.N.), which celebrates local artists at local venues. This year, she and a small group of residents in Wilmington, organized the 2012 First Annual Wilmington Women’s Month. She was recently asked by Congresswoman Hahn to be in her Women’s Advisory Board. She is moved by her values of equality and social justice. She is determined to make change and help create opportunities for future generations.

Anabell Romero

Anabell Romero is an aspiring journalist who grew up in Wilmington and returned home after graduating from UC Santa Cruz. She is currently a graduate student at USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. She is very committed to her community and hopes to bring positive change. Since 2009 she has been Member at Large of the Wilmington Neighborhood Council and hopes to continue to serve as an active member. She also helped create The Wilmington Wire, a cooperative blog for the community. In addition to graduate school, she works for The California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships as Program Coordinator. She has a fondness for informing people about issues that directly impact their community’s infrastructure. 

She also served as a Wilmington community correspondent blogger for the San Francisco National Public Radio Station, KQED, where she covered public health issues in the neighborhood. Recently she began an internship with Univision-KMEX34 where she will cover stories on Latinos in Los Angeles for their website. Her passion is driven by the fact that she grew up in a largely Latino neighborhood that continues to be faced with many issues that deplete the quality of life for its residents. Her goal is to trigger dialogue about community issues to help empower residents to bring positive change to Wilmington. 

(Disclosure: Anabell Romero is the author of this post, but as a commitment to remain objective the Wilmington Wire's goal is to provide the community with information and allow readers to make their own choices.)

Congress Hearing: LA Clean Truck Program

On May 5th, Congress will be holding a hearing about the impact of the LA Clean Truck Program on port trucking. The American Trucking Associations filed a federal lawsuit after the Clean Truck Program was set up in 2008.

The program would require freight haulers to hire employees rather than independent drivers by 2013. Supports of Clean Truck say the burden of buying and maintaining cleaner-burning bigrigs should fall on the companies, not the drivers.

The ATA says the employee mandate will put small companies out of business and increase consumer costs.

The Daily Breeze article reports:

"This system has resulted in owner-operator drivers earning $12 per hour with no kind of workers' compensation," said Melissa Lin Perrella, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is helping the port defend the plan.

"Because of this system, independent drivers have no choice but to purchase the oldest, dirtiest trucks and barely take care of them." 

Attorneys representing Los Angeles also said the employee mandate would improve safety at the port because trucking companies would have to show greater accountability for drivers and big rigs.

The Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports has encouraged residents to write to their congress representative, showing their support for the Clean Truck Program. They have created many videos of residents, workers, and organizers in the South Bay.

Jennifer Ganata, of Communities for a Better Environment, Wilmington.

Mr. Lara, Science Teacher at Banning High School, Wilmington

Port Truck Driver and Family

Coalition For Clean & Safe Ports

The Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports is an alliance between several organizations fighting against pollution and poverty in port cities all over the United States. Congress is holding a hearing about the impact of port trucking on May 5th. The Coalition wants Wilmington citizens to tell congress to support the LA Clean Truck Program by writing to our representatives.

They also have a facebook and a youtube page.

The description of the video, available on youtube, is as follows:

Violeta, a mother in the port community of Wilmington, CA has a message for Congress: In order for the clean truck program to work the responsibility should fall on the companies, not the workers! Make sure that trucks stay clean so that our kids can have cleaner and safer places to play and live.