In North County politics, Olga Diaz is an anomaly. Currently, as the Deputy Mayor of Escondido, Olga has achieved something that no one else has done in 126 years: She is the first Latina elected to the City Council. That’s nothing to sneeze at. Once named the 11th Most Conservative City in the United States, Escondido can be a lonely place for a Latina, especially if she fits the description of Olga Diaz.
Diaz describes herself as an environmentalist. She as championed the rehabilitation of Escondido Creek, turning it from a concrete, channelized flood control basin to a 7-mile linear park in the heart of the city. She also describes herself as a feminist, a progressive, and, if those weren’t enough, a Democrat.
Being all these things should not be automatic detriment to a candidate or politician, but in Escondido, things are a little different. Recently, at a Republican Central Committee meeting, current mayor, Sam Abed, declared that “Escondido is the Republican capitol of San Diego County.” It is much of that type of bravado that gets the city into a lot of legal troubles. It was some of that legal trouble that launched Diaz’s political career. [Read more…]