By Brittany Hanson/Garden Grove Journal
An excited Rigoberto Ramirez was appointed as the newest member to the Stanton City Council on Tuesday night.
“I think right now, my biggest challenge will be catching up with the council,” said Ramirez. “I imagine it will be kind of like trying to drink water from a fire hose.”
Ramirez, the regional director of a 401k investment company, said he was really looking forward to joining the city council.
Tuesday’s decision came after former council member Ed Royce, Sr. vacated his position on Feb. 1, citing declining health.
Ramirez was questioned in front of the city council about why he wanted to be on the city council and what skills he felt he brought to the table.
“I’m a people person . . . I want the opportunity to provide leadership,” said Ramirez.
Ramrez said the State of California had been tough on its cities and that something he would like to see in the future is a balanced budget.
Ramirez said he felt he could bring some problem solving strategies and group skills to the table to help come up with creative ways to solve the city’s budget problems.
He also said that many people often point out that there is a lot of pride in the community of Stanton about the city, however that it isn’t always heard from people themselves.
“Stanton can have pride. I’d like to get every single person proud to do business in this community,” said Ramirez.
Three finalists were selected from a pool of six applicants by a committee consisting of Mayor Carol Warren and Council Member Al Ethans.
“Any one of these three would be qualified to sit the board at any time,” said Ethans, “However we can only pick one.”
Elizabeth Ash and Christine Villegas were the other contenders for the board vacancy.
Ash is a retired teacher, and now a Stanton planning commission chair and Cal supervisory professor.
Villegas works at Civico, a real estate brokerage firm.
