Steve Padilla

Steve Padilla (Stephen C, born 1967) is a public policy and land use consultant, and a noted former California politician. He served as mayor of the City of Chula Vista, CA (Pop. 240,000) from 2002 to 2006 and as a member of the California Coastal Commission from 2005 to 2007. Chula Vista is the second-largest city in San Diego County, after San Diego proper. The Coastal Commission is California's powerful coastal protection authority which regulates land use along all 1100 miles of California's coastline. He served two terms on Chula Vista's City Council from 1994 to 2002 prior to being elected mayor. Padilla served in numerous San Diego County local and regional offices and held state-wide and national affiliations during his term as mayor including; the board of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), the League of California Cities and as a member of the United States Conference of Mayors. Padilla lost his bid for reelection to Republican Cheryl Cox in November, 2006. A Democrat, he is openly gay. Padilla remains active in local, state and national public affairs. He is President/CEO of Aquarius Group, Inc. a consulting business he began in 2007, and a monthly public affairs columnist for La Prensa San Diego. He is currently serving as a member of The Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy for the Council on Foreign Relations. citation |title=Suburban San Diego Mayor Comes Out |first=Rex |last=Wockner |periodical=365Gay.com |date=2005-08-01 |url=http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/08/080105sdMayor.htm |accessdate=2007-08-30.]

Early life

Born at the U.S. Naval Hospital San Diego, the oldest son of Carlos S. Padilla (d. 1971) of San Diego and Dorothy Mello (d. 1997) of Fall River, Massachusetts. He was raised in the College Estates area of Chula Vista, the eldest of four children. His mother was remarried to Donald Wroe of San Diego, CA, four years following the death of his natural father in an automobile accident. Padilla showed an interest in community at an early age, becoming active in organizations throughout his early life, which would later lead him to seek public office.

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.

While a police officer, Padilla returned to school, and received his bachelors degree in Public Administration. Between 1989 and 1990 he was appointed to various city boards and commissions including the Board of Ethics, and Safety Commission.

City Council

Padilla was elected to the Chula Vista City Council in 1994. He was the first person of latino descent elected to that office in city history, despite the city's diverse population. During his early tenure, he was noted and criticized for his harsh criticism of the existing City Manager. Padilla was instrumental in bringing about the hiring of a new City Manager and the implementation of a new city-wide ethics training. He won re-election by a large margin in 1998. Also in 1998, Padilla was divorced from his wife of four years and was awarded sole custody of his then three-year-old daughter.

Mayor

Padilla was elected the 38th Mayor of Chula Vista on November 5, 2002, defeating Mary Salas, a colleague and political ally. The race between the two democrats was hotly contested and observed given the nature of the candidate's past relationship and historic nature of the election.

During his tenure as mayor, he is credited with re-energizing efforts to bring a four-year university to Chula Vista and building a diverse coalition of interests around a large waterfront development project for the city.

Padilla sought to focus on revitalization for the city's aging downtown area and the addition of parks and open spaces. He gained significant attention in the region while leading the city in an evaluation of options for energy independence, resulting in a very public battle and debate with the area's public utility, San Diego Gas & Electric. Working with the San Diego Unified Port District, Padilla was instrumental in initiating the Bay-front Master Plan, an effort to develop 500 waterfront acres to accommodate public parks, hotels, restaurants, shops and new housing.

In July of 2005, Padilla was appointed by then Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez to the California Coastal Commission, and chaired the SANDAG Public Safety Committee. In August, 2005 while speaking at a rally on civil rights for gays and lesbians, Padilla acknowledged publicly what many had known privately for a few years - that he is gay. His "coming out" gained national attention. At that time, Chula Vista became the largest city in the United States with an openly elected gay mayor.

Padilla has been featured on the cover of "San Diego Metropolitan" magazine (July, 2003); named one of the "25 Leading Men in North America" by "Instinct" magazine (Nov, 2005); and one of "50 People to Watch" by "San Diego Magazine" (Jan, 2006).

Post Mayoral Career

Padilla served briefly as the CEO of the Solana Center for Environmental Innovation, an environmental non-profit in Encinitas, CA, from February - July 2008. He is currently the CEO and Principal of Aquarius Group, Inc, a consulting organization that he founded in 2007, and serves on the Governing Board of Walden Family Services, a private non-profit foster family agency serving special needs children in three California counties. He was invited to join the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy for the Council on Foreign Relations in June, 2008. The task force report and recommendations are due to be released in the first half of 2009.

References

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* citation
url=http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/current/Padilla.060608.htm
title= Small Steps and Big Strides
accessdate=2008-06-08 |periodical=La Prensa |date=2008-06-06.