Engage with the Election: Submit Your Questions for the Candidates!
Attend to hear from the candidates running for City Council seats in Districts 1 and 3 as well as the Mayoral candidates in the citywide election.
Whittier Community Theatre
7630 Washington Ave.
Whittier, CA 90602
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Candidates
District 1
For over 40 years, Mary Ann Pacheco has been a respected member of the Whittier community and a resident/homeowner in the Uptown area, District Area 1. A daughter of an immigrant working-class family, Mary Ann attended USC and UCLA to dedicate herself as a professor to teach and improve the lives of people seeking a better life through educational opportunities.
Her public service has included a career dedicated to students and staff at Rio Hondo College as a former English professor, union leader, and an elected member of the Board of Trustees. She has long advocated for public education and those whose voice is often not heard or respected as it should be. Mary Ann has been recognized for her service, advocacy, and leadership with several prestigious education and human rights awards. However, her best reward is always witnessing the successes in the lives of those she has helped along the way.
Valuing community service, Mary Ann has enthusiastically volunteered for decades at St. Mary of the Assumption and served on the boards of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Whittier/Pico Rivera, the Hispanic Outreach Taskforce (HOT), and Soroptimist International of Whittier. She continues to be committed to serving families.
Married 26 years, mother, city council member. Currently serving as a Director for the Puente Hills Habitat Authority, and Trustee for Greater Los Angeles Vector Control, several other boards and ad hoc committees.
Former educator with a Juris Doctorate, master's degrees in Human Rights and Bioethics, BA from Loyola Marymount, AA from ELA Jr. College.
Jessica has also worked for the federal government, and for private industry.
My name is Magdalena “Maggie” Barragnon Moe and I am running for Whittier City Council District 1. I was raised in Murphy Ranch and Whittier is my Hometown. I’ve been involved in Civic Matters since 2016, but I have been an active volunteer in my community for over 45 years.
I have served as an officer/ board member of the following service organizations:
- Whittier Sunrise Rotary
(President, Board Member) - Whittier Regional Symphony
(Vice President) - East Whittier Music and Arts Foundation (Board Member)
- Whittier for Concerned Citizens
(Founder, President)
Whittier residents say, “Maggie makes things happen!”
The reason they say this is simple- my neighbors have come to rely on me to relay their problems and concerns to the proper Authority. I have become effective at identifying each problem, rallying neighborhood support and bringing a solution to the Agency that can best fix the problem. I have led the fight to repair street lights, the cleanout of storm drains and removal of problematic waste. I have also gone to the length of shutting down my business so that I can help in the effort to combat the pandemic. I was involved in Covid and antibody testing, where we tested over 1400 people with a 40% positive results rate. If I can do this as an average Citizen, imagine what I can do for the entire District when I am your Councilperson.
I have no aspirations for any other Office after this. My vision is to do good work, build relationships, solve problems and leave a positive legacy for future generations.
District 3
Having served for 14 years on local school boards, Cathy was first elected to the City Council in 2004 and reelected in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. Cathy's family has been in Whittier since 1920 & she and her husband Dave have seven children, 32 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
Cathy attended John Greenleaf Whittier and Longfellow Elementary Schools, Dexter and East Whittier Junior High Schools, and graduated from California High School. She received an A.A. Degree from Fullerton College, a B.S. in Dental Hygiene from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and a Master of Leadership from the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Cathy and her husband, Dave, maintain a Periodontal and Dental Implant practice in East Whittier. She is also an Adjunct Professor at UMass Global, Department of Business and Professional Studies.
She has previously served on the City's Cultural Arts Commission for 2 years, the East Whittier City School District Governing Board for 2 years, the Whittier Union High School District Board of Trustees for 12 years, and the Tri-Cities ROP Governing Board for 6 years. Cathy is a board member for the Whittier Union High School District Educational Foundation, President & Founding Member of the Tri-Cities ROP Educational Foundation, President & Founding Member of the Clean Water Education Foundation & Chair of the East Whittier City School District Bond Oversight Committee. She also serves as Chair of the Administrative District for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts.
Cathy Serves on the following City Council Ad Hoc Committees: Town & Gown, Parnell Park Renovation, Whittwood, Fire Station 17's and the Gold Line Light Rail.
- Resident of East Whittier for over 30 years
- Middle School Principal in Whittier for 16 years
- Previously Teacher, Coach, Activities and Athletic Director
- Educator for over 30 Years, now retired
- Managed multi-million dollar budgets and supervised more than 75 employees while a principal
- I volunteer as secretary/treasurer for 3green assistance, a small non-profit organization that gives grants to other non-profits for environmental projects. We have provided grants to local organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, PIH, and the YMCA.
- I have been a foster parent and have been married for over 45 years
Mayor
Occupation: Accounting Bookkeeper
Increase police department to an efficient capacity. Currently Whittier police are sorely understaffed and over worked. I believe there should be an additional 480 police officers. I intend to bring back federal funding...however it can only be done by renouncing "sanctuary city" which is and was the reason federal funding was taken away. Have any and all 835.B's removed from Whittier. Whittier school district is the third largest in southern California which means Whittier has more children than other surrounding cities. We must take our children out of harm’s way. I believe a community free of crime and corruption is a possibility...highly probable. State mental institutions must be reopened, there are people living on the streets with mental disability, we must get these people off the streets and into a place where they can receive proper attention. I believe this will decrease the number of transients living on the streets. Cleaning up our town will take work...however I have faith that we can get it done. Together as a community. Increasing the police department IS IMPORTANT in creating SAFETY for our community. Children, Decent hard working families, deserve to live in a SAFE COMMUNITY.
I am a resident of Whittier for over 30 years, spent 20 years as an Aeronautical Engineer and 11 years as a Special Education Advocate for students serving in all Whittier Districts. Served as Chairman on the Whittier City School District BOC, Measure Z, Which funded Technological Upgrades in all of WCSD Schools. I Am a founding member of Whittier Pride since 2019, and worked in partnership with the City of Whittier, the Uptown Association, the Whittier Museum, local businesses, during COVID and beyond, by generating events for families as additional support to generate revenue for business owners. This support contributed to the overall surplus of over $40 million dollars of sales tax revenue, within two years.
As a candidate for Mayor, I have heard the clear promises made to the people of Whittier and I am concerned with where Whittier currently stands fiscally due to CIPA and our city's managed directive.
Your safety is of the upmost importance. My plan for increased public safety begins with designating Whittier PD officers, 2 officers per patrol, in 3 sectors. 1 in the East, 1 in the West, and 1 in Central Uptown Sector, 3 additional units will support our unincorporated borders of the city. This strategy will increase WPD response times and cover a larger area of Whittier with the safety of our officers in mind, We will enforce the law.
Creation of city run mentorship program for all senior student age participants, including our special needs community. Qualifying Students for job openings in our city and surrounding city's. We will build a roller rink and skatepark for our families to enjoy. We will build a free transit system to connect all of our commercial districts, parks, and schools. I will do more for our children by investing directly in the classroom. My name is Rolando Cano and I need your vote to continue leading our city team for the next two years, In Whittier Cano CAN get the job done.
#whittiercano on FB, INSTA, and Nextdoor
It’s been my honor to serve as your first directly elected Mayor for the past eight years and I’d like your continued support. I was born and raised in Whittier, attended Whittier schools, married and raised a family in Whittier. My wife and I reopened an Uptown restaurant and I am a partner in a Whittier law firm.
As a candidate I made clear commitments regarding public safety, jobs, fiscal stability, the Nelles property (now “the Groves”), homelessness, Uptown, our library, and we made it happen!
Public safety is our first priority and I am pleased that the WPD is at full complement with the addition of more officers and police body cameras. We have beefed up our fire protection/emergency medical services through the LA CoFD with the addition of paramedic engine 59 in East Whittier as well as paramedic assessment engine 28 in Uptown. And our commitment continues with a new West Whittier station 17 and paramedic squad, now in the planning stages.
Thanks to the people of Whittier and Measure W, your city is fiscally stable. We generated a surplus that we are investing in parks, the hills, youth sports facilities for our kids/grandkids, the future. We extended the GWT to Orange County and are working westward to the San Gabriel River. Converting the blighted CYA Nelles property into the beautiful Groves is almost complete and soon to come, a state-of-the-art food court, Rodeo 72.
We are working hard on homelessness and successfully taking care of our homeless families but homeless single adults continue to be challenging. With the homelessness emergency declaration, we found solutions for those encamped in the parks and we now have a Navigation Center providing housing, jobs and services for those who want help. But we also must be firm with those who don’t want help. And the county and state must do their job with the mentally ill.
With Uptown property owners we created the Uptown Improvement District and the City is actively making parking/safety/streetscape improvements to our central core including the beautiful parking pavilion and Promenade. We pulled together our partners from the state/county who brought back your tax dollars to rebuild our Central Library.
I need your vote to continue leading our city team for the next two years. My goal: to make Whittier the best place in Southern California to raise a family!