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My girlfriend and I had the distinct honor of being State Senator Gil Cedillo’s guests at his holiday party at Cicada Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles Monday evening. Party goers included friends and family of the Senator, L.A. politicos, community leaders and the Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District David L. Brewer, III.
Senator Cedillo, who is best known for his efforts to get a law passed that would allow for undocumented immigrants to be granted driver licenses, demonstrated tonight that he is not the single issue politician that the right-wing noise machine likes to portray. Gil talked about wanting to see more done in the effort to eliminate homelessness, improving our schools and providing more services for our at-risk youth.
Gil put “his” money where his mouth is by donating money from his campaign to local organizations that provide services and opportunities to the community. He gave $7000 to the Pop Warner programs in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles, $5000 to the Northeast Los Angeles Little League and several thousand dollars to an organization that reaches out to young people in Boyle Heights.
Gil really played the role of Santa Claus when he donated $60,000 to Girls Today Women Tomorrow. The organization which is based in Boyle Heights is a mentoring and leadership program for girls 12-21 and addresses issues that are close to the heart of Gil and his late wife.
Superintendent Brewer commented that he usually avoids political functions but that he made an exception for Gil’s event tonight. According to Brewer he “trust’s” that Gil is looking out for the young people of our state and that he is doing all he can to represent their interests in Sacramento.
For me it was a breath of fresh air to experience politics L.A. style. Most of the folks in the room were true progressives that want to see an agenda put forth that does not descriminate against anyone regardles of income level, skin color or immigration status.
Gil is a champion for equality and justice for all the people of California and his compassion, energy and progressive ideals are a welcome change to the politics and politicians we in Orange County are used to dealing with.  Through his hardwork in Sacramento he is trying to expand access to healthcare, provide new economic development opportunities and fight for the rights of working men and women across the state.
We want to thank Gil for inviting us this evening and I look forward to working with him in the near future for candidates and causes we both support. I for one hope that Gil’s spirit can transcend Los Angeles past the Orange Curtain and into our community. We need more compassionate and caring leaders across the nation, Lord knows we can use them in Orange County.
They don’t call him one bill Gil for nothing.
“They” don’t call him that for nothing or you and your bigoted buddies in the right-wing noise machine don’t call him that for nothing?
While Gil is very determined to see that the driver license bill becomes law, it is equally clear that he is passionate about other causes as well. Those like you and your heroes like John and Ken simply want to paint Gil in a certain light in an effort to pander to the bigots and the racists.