Steve Padilla

His father was Mexican and his mother was Portuguese. Shortly after Padilla was born, his father joined the United States Marine Corps, and was deployed to serve in the Vietnam War. Shortly after Padilla's father returned home from this tour of duty, he was killed in an automobile accident. Padilla's mother thereafter purchased a home in Chula Vista to raise her family in. Padilla's mother remarried, giving Padilla and his siblings a stepfather. Padilla was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout, and later became involved with the Chula Vista Explorer Scouts. Padilla's first career venture was into law enforcement. After graduating from Bonita Vista High School, he became the youngest cadet accepted into the Southwestern Police Academy. A police officer for thirteen years, he served as a Detective, specializing in domestic violence and child abuse before entering the public arena. He served for a period as the president of the Chula Vista Police Officers Association. While a police officer, Padilla returned to school, and received his bachelor's degree in public administration. He was appointed by the City Council to various city boards and commissions, including the Board of Ethics, and Safety Commission. Padilla worked as a substitute teacher for the Sweetwater Union High School District. ==City council==

Padilla was elected to the Chula Vista City Council in 1994. He was also leading figure in city finance reforms, including a move to planning the city's budget on two-year cycles. ==Mayoralty==

Election Padilla was elected the 38th Mayor of Chula Vista on November 5, 2002, defeating fellow City Council member Mary Salas, a colleague and political ally. Padilla could not have sought another term on the city council in 2002, due to a prohibition on serving more than two terms consecutively. The election was also historic in that all three candidates running (Salas, Padilla, and Petra Barajas) were Hispanic, guaranteeing that the city would elect its first Hispanic mayor. One of Padilla's pledged priorities was to promote plans to manage growth in the city's eastern segment and to regenerate its older neighborhoods. Throughout the campaign, Salas and Padilla criticized each other for accepting campaign contributions from different real estate developers. A tense race from its inception, in the closing days of the general election, things became particularly hostile as both candidates assailed each other's records. Padilla defended his own words, claiming Burgess misunderstood his statement and wrongfully quoted him. Under Padilla's leadership, Chula Vista was selected as the American site for the University Park and Research Center (UPRC), beating out other cities across the nation. At that time, Chula Vista became the largest city in the United States with an openly gay mayor. He was the first openly-gay elected city official in Chula Vista's history. Cox's campaign against Padilla focused on the drop in City reserves from $40 million to $10 million while Padilla served as Mayor and largely on the fact the city had hired security for Padilla in the wake of anonymous threats. Padilla stated that his top priorities for a second term would have been continuing to reduce traffic/congestion through smart growth, continuing to improve parks and education, and continuing to make investments in public safety. Padilla was endorsed by the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce, Chula Vista Firefighter's Association, Chula Vista Police Officer's Association, and the League of Conservation Voters. ==Post-mayoral career==

Padilla's tenure on the California Coastal Commission, which he had been appointed to in 2005, ended in 2007. In early 2011, Chula Vista's city council failed to appoint Padilla to a full 4-year term in his own right in a 3–2 vote, just hours after he was sworn in as vice chairman at the commission's annual luncheon. In 2014 Padilla sought to re-enter elective office and sought a seat on the Chula Vista City Council. In what became the closest election in city history, his campaign received broad organizational and political support, but lost the bid by only 2 votes out of nearly 39,000 cast. McCann, a Republican, had, in fact, originally succeeded Padilla as the officeholder for seat 2 on the City Council in 2002, and had, as councilman-elect in 2002, endorsed Padilla in the second-round of his first mayoral race. Return to City Council and Coastal Commission After his extraordinarily narrow defeat in the 2014 city council election, Padilla opted to seek a different seat on the Chula Vista City Council in 2016, and was elected. This election was the first time that an openly-gay man had won an election to city office in Chula Vista. Padilla was reelected to the Chula Vista City Council in 2020. ==Personal life==

While now openly-gay, Padilla was previously married to a woman. Padilla came out privately to his family in 1999, and separated from his wife around this time. One week later, Padilla was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at his local hospital. ==Electoral history==

Chula Vista City Council Mayor of Chula Vista : Barajas received 7 votes as a write-in in the runoff California State Senate == References ==