Two Years after being elected to the Calexico City Council, Raul Ureña, 25, was appointed to serve as Mayor. During the March 1 meeting, the council voted to change the Mayoral rotation to February in which the majority of the council selected Ureña to replace then-incumbent, Javier Moreno.
Ureña’s election marks a first in the city’s history. Because not only did he become the youngest Mayor in the city but he will be the first-ever openly transgender elected official to preside over the municipal meetings.
By a vote of 4-1, Raul Ureña was elected Mayor of Calexico, this symbolized a shift in the political balance of the city that has been spearheaded by the new mayor.
However, not everyone in Calexico was in a celebratory mood to celebrate.
On the contrary, several residents were extremely unhappy with the change of the Mayoral annual rotation from July to Feb. or Ureña’s appointment arguing that another councilman should have been elected since he was next in line to be Mayor last year. After all, Calexico has never been exempted from political drama.
But being an openly transgender elected official came with a price. Not even 24 hours after his appointment there were pictures of Ureña in a black dress circulating on social media. Those pictures were taken from Ureña’s Facebook page and now they were shared by many people who mocked him and criticized the image he was going to portray representing the city.
Read the rest of the story at Beyond Borders Gazette
