Government
| Mayors | ||
|---|---|---|
| Office | Name | Period |
| Mayor | Josefina C. Rodriguez | (1979–1982) |
| Mayor | Elias Bermudez | (1982–1984) |
| Mayor | Marco Antonio "Tony" Reyes | (1984–1994) |
| Mayor | Mike Lopez | (1994–1996) |
| Mayor | Pedro Julian | (1996–1997) |
| Mayor | A. Joe Harper | (1997–2003) |
| Mayor | Guillermina Fuentes | (2003–2004) |
| Mayor | Nieves G. Riedel | (2004–2006) |
| Mayor | Guillermina Fuentes | (2006) |
| Mayor | Juan Carlos Escamilla | (2006–present) |
| City Council | ||
| Office | Name | Period |
| Mayor | Juan Carlos Escamilla | (2006–2010) |
| Vice-Mayor | Gerardo Sanchez | (2008–2012) |
| Council Member | Marco A. Pinzon | (2010–2014) |
| Council Member | Gloria Torres | (interim) |
| Council Member | Jose Suarez | (2008–2012) |
| Council Member | Mario Buchanan Jr. | (2008–2012) |
| Council Member | Africa Luna-Carrasco | (2010–2014) |
| City Manager | Ralph Velez | |
| City Clerk | Sonia Cuello | |
| City Attorney | Glenn Gimbut | |
| City Magistrate | Rosendo Morales Jr. | |
| City Engineer | Ralph Malph | |
| Chief of Police | Eddie Munoz | |
| Fire Chief | Hank Green | |
The city of San Luis uses a Council-Manager form of government, where the seven-member council appoints a city manager, city attorney, city engineer, city magistrate, chief of police and fire chief.
Since 1996, the city has been plagued by a wave of recalls. It has had six different mayors in a 10-year period and has gone through almost two dozen council members during that time.
In January 2012, the city made national news when Alejandrina Cabrera, a city council candidate, was banned from running for office because it was claimed that she was not proficient enough in English. Yuma County Superior Judge John Nelson issued an order on January 25 stating that Cabrera's name be stricken from the ballot. Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla had filed a lawsuit requesting that the court determine Cabrera's qualification to run for office based on her English skills. Cabrera had previously launched two unsuccessful recall campaigns against Escamilla, after the council raised utility rates. She claimed that the lawsuit was politically motivated. The issue was of national importance because it was reminiscent of Jim Crow Laws enacted in the southern United States between 1876 and 1965.
Read more about this topic: San Luis, Arizona
Famous quotes containing the word government:
“But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I thought it a pity that some poor student did not live there, to profit by all that light, since he would not rob the mariner.... Think of fifteen Argand lamps to read the newspaper by! Government oil!—light enough, perchance, to read the Constitution by! I thought that he should read nothing less than his Bible by that lamp.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In government offices which are sensitive to the vehemence and passion of mass sentiment public men have no sure tenure. They are in effect perpetual office seekers, always on trial for their political lives, always required to court their restless constituents.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)