The Importance of Representation and the Hispanic Heritage Month

Conversation with Santa Clara Supervisor Cindy Chavez

Posted on September 26, 2022 by isajubes in Politics, History, Opinion and related, Radio Show "Atenea Americana", SHOW ENG // 0 Comments

Teens Volunteering Time for Cindy Chavez's Campaign

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Today our guest is Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, a long-time politician in the Bay Area who is running for the mayor position in San Jose.

She’s a longtime resident of the city of San José. Chavez’s father was a carpenter, and her mother worked as a teacher’s aide, spending much of her free time volunteering in the community. Her background makes her unique as the local political representative of an area with a diverse local population. There have been 24 years since a woman was mayor of San Jose.

Chavez attended San José State University, where her passion for politics and commitment to community led her down a path to public service. After graduating, she worked as a budget and policy aide on health, human services, and transportation issues at the Board of Supervisors.

Chavez joined the South Bay Labor Council as Staff Director four years later. During her tenure there, she helped create and lead Working Partnerships USA, a collaboration of business and civic groups focusing on issues affecting working families.

Chavez won her first election to San Jose’s City Council in 1998 and focused on the building blocks of urban centers: establishing standards for traffic calming, building affordable housing, and promoting excellent schools. Four years later, she was re-elected and named Vice Mayor.

Some of the positions Supervisor Chavez holds at the moment are:

Chair of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Member of the CalTrain Board of Directors
Board’s Children, Families, and Seniors Committee
Finance and Government Operations Committee
Commissioner representing Santa Clara County on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Trustee of the Board of Directors of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)
Trustee of the Board of State and Community Corrections, appointed by Governor Gavin Newson

Today she is here to talk to us about her town’s needs and goals, the importance of representation, Hispanic heritage month, and more.

This show was recorded live during an online interview from KZSU Stanford and Chavez’s home, and it was also made a “Facebook Life” broadcast. We hope you enjoy the show.

As usual, I want to thank you for listening to our show “Atenea Americana”, as part of my effort at Stanford Hispanic Broadcasting. You can listen to all our shows here or on any of your favorite podcast apps. You can help to make programs like this possible by leaving your comments, subscribing to our website and podcast channels, following us, sharing links, contributing with your ideas or materials, sharing our social networks, and more. Remember to check our “Contribute” to learn more.