As a council member and public servant, I have provided solid leadership for the good governance of the municipal district and the local community to the best of my abilities. It has been my honor to serve my community, and after two years of service, I continue to embrace my position as Calexico mayor with respect, commitment, seriousness, and appreciation.
Furthermore, I understand the impact that my actions and inactions can have on my community, and I take responsibility for my decisions and their consequences. It is my practice to separate my personal life from my job in an effort to be more effective in both areas, although I understand that being a public servant puts my private life on a public platform.
In the best interest of Calexico residents and the City Council, I am publicly requesting that council member Raul Ureña cease and desist from publishing negative statements regarding my private life and my career as a public servant. I am here and now demanding my rights to be treated with dignity and respect in my private and public matters.
Your published statements not only affect my personal life but also fail to deliver a positive message to the community in an attempt to portray you as the honorable citizen elected to represent the community as a City Council member.
While it is true that freedom of speech is a right that every citizen of the United States is entitled to, Mr. Ureña far from elevates the morale of the constituents of Calexico.
The things he writes on social media attempt to diminish my work as a public servant and that inevitably instills mistrust in the City of Calexico residents toward their local officials. As the Calexico Mayor, it is my responsibility to highlight that the adverse outcomes of such writings from council member Ureña also creates division among the City Council members by contradicting the goal of the City Council, which reads as follows: “The goal of the City Council is to provide a unified well-informed and effective Council working and governing to produce the best City government, management, quality of life and service to the residents of Calexico.”
It is important that we all work together to focus on the goal of the City of Calexico Council by joining forces as we continue to represent the interest of our constituents in our City of Calexico.
Rosie Arreola Fernandez is mayor of the city of Calexico. Fernandez is in her first term on the Calexico City Council. She took office in 2018.
