Pioneer, leader, and a fighter for Latino rights and the environment. These are some of the terms used by friends, politicians, family, and people who knew Cindy Montañez, the City Councilor of San Fernando and CEO of the environmental organization Tree People, who passed away on Saturday, October 21st, due to cancer.
Cindy Montañez was only 49 years old but leaves behind a successful legacy that is hard to replicate.
The daughter of immigrants from Veracruz (her mother) and Chihuahua (her father), Montañez stood out from her days at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) when she participated in a 14-day hunger strike on campus, persuading the school to create a Chicano Studies department.
After graduating, at the age of 25, she became the youngest person to be elected as councilor and mayor of her hometown, San Fernando. There, she shared the stage with her older sister, Maribel de la Torre. Three years later, she repeated the feat when she became the youngest woman ever elected to the California Assembly. At the age of 30, she also became the youngest person and the first Latina Democrat to be president of the Assembly Rules Committee.
During her time in the California Legislature, she introduced numerous proposals that became laws, notably one to protect car buyers known as the “Buyers’ Bill of Rights.”
In 2016, Montañez made history again when she became the first Latina CEO of an environmental organization in the United States when she was appointed CEO of TreePeople. The position was perfect for a woman who enjoyed hiking in the local mountains and national parks of California.
In the last year, Cindy Montañez focused her battles against the worst enemy, terminal cancer, which weakened her, confining her to a wheelchair.
As her health deteriorated, accolades poured in.
In August, the California Assembly designated January 19th – her birthday – as “Cindy Montañez Day in California.”
On September 9th, the city of her birth also named a park in her honor, and in October, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board voted to rename Gridley Street Elementary School in San Fernando as Gridley-Montañez Dual Language Academy.
The Los Angeles County Democratic Party issued a statement mourning Montañez’s death, calling her a “trailblazer” who “broke multiple glass ceilings.”
“Her enduring legacy of advocating for environmental justice, climate change, and housing will resonate with generations to come,” the statement reads. “Our hearts are with her family, and may her influence persist with strength and purpose.”
Cindy Montanez: ‘We’re going to liberate children from school asphalt prisons’
Write a Reply or Comment
You should Sign In or Sign Up account to post comment.