The last few months have been a challenging time for people in the U.S. This can make our local news something easily skipped over. However, events in our community drastically impact our day to day lives. Our local community has recently had historic elections, a spike in Covid-19 cases, and major political news. This local news update will serve to provide digestible information on major events that happened within our community during the winter.
Victorville City Council
The city of Victorville had a very competitive and important election last year. The seats of three city council members were up for election in November 2020, one of these seats belonged to the serving Mayor Gloria Garcia. Garcia was the City’s first Hispanic woman to serve as mayor of Victorville. Garcia’s seat being up for election drew in many competitors seeking a place on the council (over 20 people ran for election). In the charter city of Victorville, the top three candidates who get the most votes are the council members-elect. Candidates and concerned voters eagerly awaited election results as San Bernardino County counted the official results, which weren’t released until early December. Early on it was suspected incumbent Blanca Gomez and newcomer Elizabeth “Liz” Becerra would win two seats. However, due to close results, the third seat wasn’t clear until December. In the end, the third seat was ultimately won by Leslie Irving winning 7.54% of the vote. She beat the candidate with the fourth most votes, Ryan McEachron, by 21 votes. Former Mayor Garcia lost her seat on the council, changing the longtime leadership in Victorville.
The impact of this election was full of historic firsts in our city. Leslie Irving is the first Black woman to serve on the council. Victorville gained its first all female city council. The majority of members on the newly elected council all nominated and elected Debra Jones as the new mayor of Victorville.
Covid-19
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a spike in the High Desert area. The shouts of “Code Blue” (A term used in hospitals to signify the death of a patient) across hospitals in the High Desert are heard frequently as nurses and doctors struggle to maintain the situation. CNN created a video investigating the severity of St. Mary’s hospital, Apple Valley. “The death toll has been… just out of this world”, stated Lindsey Packard (ICU manager and nurse at St. Marys) in the video. St. Mary’s nurses are working on average 18 hours a day. According to the video, a California National Guard Strike Team comprised of nurses arrive daily to help the underfunded rural area. A nurse states, “about 80% of our patients are covid”. The hallways are lined with patients waiting for up to 7-10 days waiting for treatment. Interim Director at St. Marys, Randy Loveless, states, “Every day we’re running at 200, 250 percent capacity”.
Congressman Jay Obernolte
Jay Obernolte was sworn in to serve as California’s 8th Congressional District on January 3rd. After narrowly defeating democratic candidate Chris Bubser, Obernolte has told constituents he will not join the partisan divides in Washington. However, amidst the riots at the capitol on January 6th, Obernolte voted to overturn the Electoral College results of Pennsylvania and Arizona making Obernolte one of the 147 GOP members of Congress that objected to the results that certified the win of Joe Biden. Obernolte now faces calls to resign by concerned constituents and local activist organizations.
Sources
Nytimes.com. 2021. The 147 Republicans Who Voted To Overturn Election Results. [online] Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/07/us/elections/electoral-college-biden-objectors.html> [Accessed 11 January 2021].
Obernolte.house.gov. 2021. Jay Obernolte Officially Sworn In As Representative For California’S 8Th District | Representative Jay Obernolte. [online] Available at: <https://obernolte.house.gov/media/press-releases/jay-obernolte-officially-sworn-representative-californias-8th-district> [Accessed 11 January 2021].
2021.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/california-hospital-covid-capacity/?fbclid=IwAR1-XroQhRlZehtNEWEZCfmPmHzQSIg-zlUBxwBn3qUPBddxexhpvc-O_5g> [Accessed 11 January 2021].
CNN. 2021. Rural California Hospital Staff Devastated By Volume Of Pandemic Patients - CNN Video. [online] Available at: <https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2021/01/09/covid-hellscape-california-hospital-ac360-sidner-pkg-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/coronavirus/> [Accessed 11 January 2021].
Victorville Daily Press. 2021. Jones Named Victorville Mayor As All-Female City Council Meets For First Time. [online] Available at: <https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/news/2020/12/09/jones-named-victorville-mayor-all-female-city-council-meets-first-time/3868285001/> [Accessed 11 January 2021].
vvdailypress. 2021. Candidate Profile: Mayor Gloria Garcia Says She's Not Through Leading Victorville. [online] Available at: <https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/news/politics/elections/candidate-profiles/2020/10/16/victorville-mayor-gloria-garcia-election-gloriagarcia/5950445002/> [Accessed 11 January 2021].
Sbcounty.gov. 2021. San Bernardino County | Registrar Of Voters | Current Elections | Election Results. [online] Available at: <https://www.sbcounty.gov/rov/elections/results/20201103/> [Accessed 11 January 2021].
Victorville Daily Press. 2021. Irving Wins 3Rd Seat To Set Up First Ever All-Female City Council In Victorville. [online] Available at: <https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/news/2020/12/02/irving-wins-3rd-seat-set-up-first-ever-all-female-city-council-victorville/3784775001/> [Accessed 11 January 2021].
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