Message from the Executive Director
Dear California City Leaders,
It was great to see so many of you at last week’s League of California Cities Annual Conference and Expo. I hope you left Sacramento energized and inspired with new ideas from workshops, general sessions, keynote speakers, and networking events that will help you lead your communities forward.
The conference was a wonderful opportunity to recognize the remarkable achievements of our award-winning cities and legislative champions, which you can read all about in our annual conference recap article. I also had the pleasure of sharing highlights of all we have accomplished together this year as an organization advancing city priorities and fighting for local control. Some of these accomplishments were featured in the Cal Cities Delivers videos that debuted at the conference and can be found on Cal Cities’ YouTube channel.
During its meeting at the conference, the Cal Cities Board of Directors elected new leadership for the 2021-2022 term. Walnut Creek Council Member Cindy Silva will serve as president, Artesia Council Member Ali Sajjad Taj as first vice president, and Fowler Council Member Daniel Parra as second vice president. El Centro Mayor Cheryl Viegas Walker, who served as the 2020-21 president, became immediate past president.
Congratulations to the new Cal Cities Officers, as well as the six at-large directors who were elected to serve a two-year term. Those directors are:
- Britt Huff, Council Member, Rolling Hills Estates
- Lynne Kennedy, Mayor Pro Tem, Rancho Cucamonga
- Porsche Middleton, Vice Mayor, Citrus Heights
- Richard Montgomery, Council Member, Manhattan Beach
- Gabe Quinto, Mayor Pro Tem, El Cerrito
- Nancy Young, Mayor, Tracy
The 2021-2022 Cal Cities Officers and Board of Directors were sworn in during the conference’s closing general session. The full list of directors can be found on our website.
I also want to say thank you to our departing officers and board members who served the organization well during their tenure on the board. Having such dedicated city leaders as partners leading Cal Cities at a time of unprecedented challenges and opportunities is an honor. All of our officers and board members make our organization an even stronger voice for the cities we represent, and I’m excited about all we will accomplish together on behalf of California cities moving forward.
As President Silva said in her closing session remarks, “While the year ahead is not entirely clear, I am confident that we’ll do what we do best at Cal Cities: We’ll work together to tackle our challenges and we’ll work together to capitalize on new opportunities.”
Sincerely,