List of mayors of Lynwood, California

Mayor of Lynwood
Seal of Lynwood
Incumbent Jose Solache since December 9, 2021.
Term length	1 year
Formation	1921

Following is a list of mayors of Lynwood, California

Image	Mayor	Term	Notes/Citation	Mayor pro tem	Other Council members
	?	1921–1984
	John Byork	1984–1985
	Robert Henning	1985–Dec 1986	First African-American mayor	Evelyn Wells
	Evelyn Wells	Dec 1986	Acting mayor, first female mayor and second African-American mayor[1]	x	Robert Henning Paul Richards John Byork E.L. Morris
	Paul Richards	Dec 1986–Jan 1989			Evelyn Wells Paul Richards John Byork E.L. Morris
	Evelyn Wells (2nd term)	1989–1990	[2]	Paul Richards
	Robert Henning (2nd term)	1990–1991
	Louis J. Heine	1991–1992	Henning stepped down prematurely in November 1991 The three incumbent members on the council voted for Heine in a special meeting as mayor (incoming councilmember Louis Byrd did not take part)[3][4][5]
	Paul Richards (2nd term)	1992–1997	[6]
	Armando Rea	1997–1998	[7]
	Ricardo Sanchez	1998–1999	[8]
	Louis Byrd	1999–2000	[9][10]
	Paul Richards (3rd term)	2000–2001
	Arturo Reyes	2001–2003	[11]
	Fernando Pedroza	2003–2004	[12] Pedroza moved to Lynwood in 1979 with his family.[13] In 1984, he graduated from Lynwood High School and then graduated from Webster Career College in Long Beach.[13] Pedroza was elected to the Lynwood City Council in November 2001 and was the city's mayor in 2003.[13] On September 25, 2007, he was ousted from the City Council in a recall election which also resulted in the removal of mayor Louis Byrd and fellow council members Leticia Vasquez and Alfreddie Johnson Jr.[14][15][16][17] Mayor Pro Tem Maria Teresa Santillan, the only council member to not face a recall vote, served as mayor in the interim.
	Ramon Rodriguez	2004–2005	Rodriguez was born in the town of Valparaíso, Zacatecas, Mexico. His family migrated to the United States in 1964, and he grew up in Hawaiian Gardens, California, where he graduated from Artesia High School in Lakewood, California. Rodriguez was elected to the Lynwood City Council in 2001. In 2003, eight members of his family were charged with voter fraud after registering at a fictitious address to vote for his re-election.[18] In December 2004, he was appointed mayor by the City Council. In the December 2005 election he lost re-election to the City Council. He was re-elected to the council in 2007 after a recall election[19][20] in September 2007 where mayor Louis Byrd and council members Fernando Pedroza, Leticia Vasquez, and Alfreddie Johnson Jr were all removed from office.[21][22]
	Leticia Vasquez	2005–2006	Vasquez was born and raised in Lynwood, the daughter of immigrants from Mexico.[23] She graduated with a B.A. in criminal justice and a M.A. in public policy & administration from California State University, Long Beach and with a M.A. in education from Pepperdine University.[24] Vasquez was elected to the Lynwood City Council in November 2003 and made history as the first Latina to serve as mayor of the city when she was appointed by the City Council in December 2005.[25][26][27] In December 2006, she was succeeded as mayor by Louis Byrd.[28] In September 2007, she was ousted from the City Council in a recall election which also resulted in the removal of mayor Louis Byrd and fellow council members Fernando Pedroza and Alfreddie Johnson Jr.[29][30] Mayor Pro Tem Maria Teresa Santillan, the only council member to not face a recall vote, served as interim mayor. While mayor, Vazquez faced criticism for not more aggressively representing Latino interests in a town that was roughly 80% Latino with a declining, although influential, Black population.[31] In 2003, she had nominated Louis Byrd for mayor over the Latino candidate.[32] On June 5, 2012, Vasquez was elected to the Central Basin Municipal Water District[33] and is a professor of political science at El Camino College in Compton, California.[24]
	Louis Byrd (2nd term)	2006–2007
	Maria Teresa Santillan	2007–2010	Santillan was elected to the Lynwood City Council in 2003 after winning a recall election which ousted Paul Richards, a 17-year councilmember, 7-term mayor, and the 2nd African-American mayor of the city (Richard's remaining term ran through December 1, 2005).[34][35] She was the first Latina to serve on the City Council.[36] In November 2005, she was re-elected to a 4-year term on the City Council[37] and in December 2005, she was named Mayor Pro Tem.[36] In September 2007, she was the only council member to not face a recall election which resulted in the ouster of mayor Louis Byrd and council members Fernando Pedroza, Alfreddie Johnson Jr. and Leticia Vasquez[38] over corruption allegations.[39] In December 2007, she was appointed by the 5-member City Council to serve as mayor succeeding Louis Byrd.[35][40] She was reappointed as mayor in 2008.[35][36] She was subsequently re-elected to the City Council in 2009[41] and 2013.[42] She later served as mayor again from 2016 to 2017.[43]
	Aide Castro	2010–2011
	Jim Morton	2011–2012
	Salvador Alatorre	2012–2013
	Edwin Hernandez	2014–2015
	Maria Teresa Santillan (2nd term)	2016–2017	Second term.[44]
	José Luis Solache	2018–2019
	Aide Castro	2019–2020	[45]	Jorge Casanova[45]	Salvador Alatorre José Luis Solache Marisela Santana[45]
	Marisela Santana	2020–2021
	Jorge Casanova	2021–2022	[46]	José Luis Solache
	Oscar Flores	2022 - 2023		Rita Soto	Gabriela Camacho, Jose Solache, Juan Munoz-Guevara, Rita Soto
	Jose Solache	2024 - Present		Rita Soto	Juan Munoz-Guevara, Rita Soto, Oscar Flores, Gabriela Camacho

References

1. "Lynwood : Wells Serving as Mayor". The Los Angeles Times. December 4, 1986.
2. "City Council Elects Wells as First Female Mayor". The Los Angeles Times. January 12, 1989. Wells, 42, is the first Black woman....
3. Griego, Tina (November 17, 1991). "Embittered Mayor Steps Down Early Amid Council Rift - Clip 1". The Los Angeles Times .
4. Griego, Tina (November 17, 1991). "Embittered Mayor Steps Down Early Amid Council Rift - Clip 2". The Los Angeles Times .
5. "Louis J. Heine: Lynwood Councilman and Former Mayor". The Los Angeles Times. March 24, 1997.
6. Helfand, Duke (May 14, 1993). "Hoping to End Scandal, Lynwood Fires Official". The Los Angeles Times.
7. Leonard, Jack (August 13, 1998). "$800-Million Civil Rights Suit Filed Against City of Lynwood". The Los Angeles Times.
8. "Politicians Urge Public Unity, Cite Progress". The Los Angeles Times. February 2, 1999.
9. Rojas, Aurelio (April 16, 2000). "State's Black Lawmakers Losing Ground to Latinos - page 2". Sacramento Bee.
10. Rojas, Aurelio (April 16, 2000). "State's Black Lawmakers Losing Ground to Latinos - page 1". Sacramento Bee.
11. Rohrlich, Ted (August 8, 2002). "Judge Backs Lynwood In Suit Over Billboard Fees". The Los Angeles Times.
12. "Elected Officials: Mayor Pro-Tem Fernando Pedroza". City of Lynwood, California. August 12, 2007. Archived from the original on August 12, 2007. Councilman Pedroza, 42, is bilingual English / Spanish
13. "Elected Officials: Mayor Pro-Tem Fernando Pedroza". City of Lynwood, California. August 12, 2007. Archived from the original on August 12, 2007. Councilman Pedroza, 42, is bilingual English / Spanish
14. "Los Angeles County, CA Ballot - Special Recall Election, City of Lynwood - Shall Fernando Pedroza Be Recalled (Removed) From the Office of City Council Member?". smartvoter.org. September 28, 2007.
15. Daniels, Cynthia; Marosi, Richard (January 8, 2004). "Pay Cut Plan Is Defeated in Lynwood". The Los Angeles Times.
16. Marosi, Richard (May 12, 2004). "Lynwood City Hall Searched in Probe of Credit Card Use". The Los Angeles Times.
17. Becerra, Hector; Blankstein, Andrew (September 27, 2007). "Lynwood mayor, 3 council members voted out". The Los Angeles Times.
18. Gorman, Anna; Marosi, Richard (October 16, 2003). "Member of Lynwood Official's Family Charge With Voter Fraud". The Los Angeles Times – via Newspapers.com.
19. "Councilmember Ramon Rodriguez". City of Lynwood, California. May 11, 2009. Archived from the original on May 11, 2009.
20. "Los Angeles County, CA Ballot".
21. Becerra, Hector; Blankstein, Andrew (September 27, 2007). "Lynwood mayor, 3 council members voted out". The Los Angeles Times.
22. "Los Angeles County, CA Ballot - Special Recall Election, City of Lynwood - Shall Leticia Vasquez Be Recalled (Removed) From the Office of City Council Member; City of Lynwood". smartvoter.org. September 28, 2007.
23. "Lynwood - Elected Officials". 2006-06-19. Archived from the original on June 19, 2006. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
24. "Meet Leticia". leticiavasquez.com. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
25. "Leticia Vasquez - Councilmember". 2007-09-18. Archived from the original on September 18, 2007. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
26. "Los Angeles County, CA Ballot". Smartvoter.org. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
27. "Mayor & City Council". City of Lynwood. May 11, 2009. Archived from the original on June 16, 2006.
28. "Mayor & City Council". City of Lynwood. April 3, 2007. Archived from the original on April 3, 2007.
29. Becerra, Hector; Blankstein, Andrew (September 27, 2007). "Lynwood mayor, 3 council members voted out". The Los Angeles Times.
30. "Los Angeles County, CA Ballot - Special Recall Election, City of Lynwood - Shall Leticia Vasquez Be Recalled (Removed) From the Office of City Council Member; City of Lynwood". smartvoter.org. September 28, 2007.
31. Mitchell, John L. (June 5, 2007). "Lynwood a stage for area's racial shift". The Los Angeles Times.
32. Marosi, Richard (December 18, 2003). "City Council Delays Earnings Cut In Lynwood". The Los Angeles Times.
33. "Two incumbents defeated in Central Basin Municipal Water District". Whittierdailynews.com. 2013-01-07. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
34. Ofgang, Kenneth (January 13, 2009). "Ex-Lynwood Mayor is Target of 'Vendetta', Lawyer Tells Ninth Circuit". Metropolitan News-Enterprise. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
35. "Lynwood Voters Recall Councilman Richards". Los Angeles Sentinel. August 10, 2003. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
36. "Mayor Maria Teresa Santillan". City of Lynwood. May 11, 2009. Archived from the original on May 11, 2009.
37. "Lynwood, CA City Council 2005". ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
38. Becerra, Hector; Blankstein, Andrew (September 27, 2007). "Lynwood mayor, 3 council members voted out". The Los Angeles Times.
39. Lopez de Haro, Alejandro (November 20, 2012). "Judge Shortens Prison Term For Former Lynwood City Councilman - Louis Byrd is now expected to serve a four year prison term". patch.com.
40. "Mayor & City Council". City of Lynwood. April 3, 2007. Archived from the original on April 3, 2007.
41. "Lynwood, CA City Council 2009". ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
42. "Lynwood, CA City Council 2013". ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
43. Diaz Barraga, Nanette (December 5, 2017). "CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HONORING THE YEARS OF SERVICE OF MARIA TERESA SANTILLAN-BEAS TO THE CITY OF LYNWOOD" (PDF). govinfo.go.
44. Diaz Barraga, Nanette (December 5, 2017). "CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HONORING THE YEARS OF SERVICE OF MARIA TERESA SANTILLAN-BEAS TO THE CITY OF LYNWOOD" (PDF). govinfo.go.
45. "Lynwood City Council Meeting - Regular Minutes - September 15, 2020". Lynwood, California website.
46. "Lynwood Welcomes New Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem". Lynwood, California website. December 9, 2021.

External links

• "City Council minutes by year". City of Lynwood official documents.