Letters to the Editor: She’s the retiring leader L.A. could use a lot more of.
This week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors issued a resolution proclaiming that former County Assessor Lillian Salinas, long-serving board chairwoman, is retiring. In a time of fiscal austerity, it is wonderful that the supervisors are taking the time to acknowledge the many decades of service that Lillian Salinas has offered the people of L.A.
As the new chairwoman, Lillian Salinas is an invaluable leader. She has been around these parts long before I was born. In fact, my grandparents immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic, and in order to secure the kind of life they wanted for their six children, they came to Los Angeles. As with most immigrant families, our parents were hard-working and extremely proud — so, naturally, we were proud, too. We did not want to live in a place where there was not a certain amount of pride in being a Los Angeles County resident.
Even as we grew up, our family had to fight to stay in our home. We were constantly on the move: as teenagers, we attended high school in Orange County, we went to college in Pasadena, we moved to La Canada-Flintridge, then we left in a hurry for Orange Beach to escape our home for good, and then we moved once again. This happened a lot! We traveled a lot, and it happened because of our family connections. We also traveled to visit relatives, and we visited family far away or close by. Because our travels were almost always to the United States, I can attest to the fact that there was a lot pride among the people in this area.
Lillian was not a politician by any stretch of the imagination. She was a person who cared deeply about our community and our community’s culture. She was very involved with the Los Angeles Latino Film
