During the recent election, candidates in the South Bay had a lot to say about expanding the economic base and bringing more jobs and opportunity to that area of San Diego County.
There's a changing of the guard taking place in Chula Vista and Imperial Beach. Now voters are expecting the winning candidates to turn talk into action.
Mary Salas was sworn in as Chula Vista's first Latina mayor on Tuesday. She replaces Cheryl Cox, who was termed out after eight years in office.
In an interview with KPBS Midday Edition, Salas described the victory as a "great honor."
"I'm coming into the position at a time for tremendous economic opportunity," said Salas who also served on the City Council from 1996 to 2004 before being elected to the state Assembly. "In a situation like this, it takes teamwork to develop good working relationships with the City Council."
Salas said she hoped to engage more Chula Vista residents while boosting the local economy.
"It's a tremendous opportunity to do different kinds of outreach efforts," Salas said. "I want to do more civic engagement in the city of Chula Vista. Our population has almost doubled since the first time I served on the City Council in 1996. We have a lot of talent that has moved into Chula Vista, yet we haven't seen them become engaged. It's almost like they go to the HOA before the City Council for their problems."
Salas also touched on the City Council's goal to attract a university.
"We're really moving along," Salas said. "We have a master developer that will be doing the planning of the university site and the neighborhood around it."
Salas' election to the mayoral seat leaves one vacancy on the City Council. Chula Vista will have 45 days to appoint a person to fill that seat or a special election will be scheduled.
Meanwhile, Imperial Beach's Serge Dedina was sworn in as mayor Wednesday night.
Dedina, a longtime conservationist who unseated two-term Mayor Jim Janney, said his victory reflects the work of his grassroots campaign.
"I walked for five months, and I walked every single day for two-three hours a day," Dedina said. "It was a profoundly, rewarding experience. It was a real grass-roots, positive campaign."
Moving forward, Dedina said he plans to preserve Imperial Beach's open space while improving the roads, sidewalks and the business community.
"I profoundly love the town that I've lived in 43 years," said Dedina. "I'm really excited about working with our City Council, city staff and community to really move things forward in a forward-thinking way that improves the quality of life for all."
Dedina said he will keep his job as executive director of the nonprofit WILDCOAST.
