Community Corner

Does Hilda Solis' Future Include Claremont/San Gabriel Valley?

The outgoing secretary of labor has expressed interest in being a part of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

There are rumors rumbling about the future of the outgoing U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

Could it include the road to Claremont and the San Gabriel Valley?

In a Jan. 18 article, the Los Angeles writer Richard Simon reported that Solis is considering a run at Gloria Molina’s seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

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"I’m going to take a look at it," she told The Times.

Molina’s seat is up for election in November 2014. The supervisor will be termed out and unable to run for the office. Claremont is a part of her district.

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“Washington DC’s loss is Los Angeles County’s gain when it comes to Hilda Solis and we are happy to have her back,” said Roxane Márquez, Senior Legislative and Press Deputy when asked Supervisor Molina’s thoughts on the subject.

Molina wrote a final note as secretary of labor on the Work in Progress the Official Blog of the U.S. Department of Labor

“We are all on a journey of service,” Solis wrote in an entry dated Jan. “Yesterday, in an outstanding inaugural speech that mentioned Seneca Falls, Selma and Stonewall, the president gave us a map for that journey of service.  He said it is our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began and to make the values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness real for every American.”

Solis earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science in 1979 from Cal Poly Pomona, before earning a masters from USC. She had previously represented the San Gabriel Valley in the House of Representatives.

According to a biography on the Department of Labor’s website:

Solis was confirmed as Secretary of Labor on Feb. 24, 2009, and announced her intention to leave the post earlier in January.

She first held public office in 1985, sitting on the Rio Hondo Community College Board of Trustees. She was elected to the California State Assembly in 1992, and was the first Latina elected to the California State Senate in 1994.

Solis became the first woman to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2000 for her pioneering work on environmental justice issues.

Solis was first elected to public office in 1985 as a member of the Rio Hondo Community College Board of Trustees.


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