By Ellie Burgueno | Beyond Borders Gazette
CALEXICO, Ca. – As temperatures near 120 degrees here, politics are hitting a boiling point as a recall effort gets underway targeting Mayor Raul Ureña, the first openly transgender mayor of Calexico.
Supporters of the recall say it has nothing to do with the mayor’s gender identity, pointing to a raft of policies they say has harmed the city and its residents.
“This recall will not focus on the personal lives of anyone due to personal and sexual choices,” wrote former Calexico Mayor Maritza Hurtado on the recall’s private Facebook page. “Although all comments are welcome, please refrain from this line of discussion.”
The Recall Committee declined requests for comment.
On social media, Hurtado – who previously led a failed recall effort in 2013 against two opponents on the City Council – accuses Ureña of poor leadership, blaming the current mayor for what she says is a spike in open and public indecency and intoxication, and a disregard for the well-being of local families and children. Hurtado also contends Ureña’s policies have fueled crime in part by voting to deny funding for local police and first responders.
Ureña responded by offering to forego his medical plan and that of an ally, City Council member Gilberto Manzanarez – also a target of the recall – and divert the funds to law enforcement and the local parks department, a move retired Police Chief Gonzalo Gerardo dismissed online as a political stunt driven by the recall effort.
The honeymoon is over
Ureña was first elected to the City Council in 2020 in an election that saw four out of the five council members voted out. Months before, two sitting council members were engulfed in scandal, with one sentenced to federal prison for bribery and the other charged with a DUI.
Ureña won in a landslide, with voters seeing a candidate who would challenge the city’s political establishment. Three years later, in February of this year, Ureña was appointed mayor by the sitting councilmembers, a majority of whom were by then his political allies. Fast forward six months and it appears the honeymoon is over.
“Instead of uniting the community, he is hostile,” the recall statement reads, accusing Ureña of straining relations with other elected officials and local law enforcement, regularly attacking them as racist or transphobic.
For his part, Ureña says those backing the recall have little to no credibility in the community. “They are political families that have damaged the city,” insists Ureña, blaming Hurtado and a coterie of officials from years past for the financial woes now plaguing the city.
Ureña also lists among more recent achievements the reallocation of funds for two fire and police dispatchers, approved roof repairs to the Calexico police station, and funding to hire a city engineer for the first time in 9 years.
Online attacks target Ureña’s trans identity
Still, online attacks targeting the mayor are growing, many taking aim at Ureña’s trans identity. Some allege Ureña misled the public by not acknowledging that he is trans when he ran for mayor, an allegation Ureña denies.
“My Instagram profile was hacked during my first campaign to try to discredit me as a transgender person,” says Ureña. “They posted pictures of me in dresses and with very few clothes,” pictures that continue to circulate and that the mayor says have been used by opponents.
Some in the community are coming to Ureña’s defense.
“I find the attacks despicable, hateful, and in very poor taste and discriminatory,” says Calexico resident Leticia Aldana Cota, who has known Ureña since Middle School. “If one reads through the lines and listens closely to what is being said, they are attacking his persona… and the way he dresses, which has no bearing on his ability to do good for the city.”
Marlene Thomas has known Ureña since high school and describes the then aspiring activist as a critical voice at city council and school board meetings. As for the recall, she does not mince words. “This is being done by a small group of people, a clique, that are facing change and can’t control it,” Thomas said. “Raul’s record as a leader has been outstanding.”
She ticks off the mayor’s successes, saying Ureña has balanced the budget after years of deficit, brought in a new transportation system and funding for a transit center in the city, and helped restart stalled construction on Highway 98, a boon for local businesses.
“What are these people complaining about? This is just personal and homophobic,” Thomas stated, noting a recall election would cost the city $146,000 dollars.
Raising the Pride Flag
Not everyone is as enthusiastic.
“I don’t care about his personal life at all, but this city is moving backwards,” says Calexico native Manuel Campoy, 53, adding Ureña seems to “care more about the farm workers that come from Mexico than the residents that work hard every day.”
Gloria Mancillas, 44, is more open about her discomfort with Ureña’s identity. “I don’t believe in the gay movement,” she says, adding she was opposed to the raising of the Pride flag above City Hall. Calexico was the only city in Imperial County to pass a resolution celebrating Pride Month, a far cry from 2008 when a majority of voters in the city approved Prop 8 banning gay marriage in California.
During the flag raising a local resident approached Ureña hurling epithets before being detained by police. Video of the incident quickly went viral on social media and was carried by local news. Details later revealed that Ureña had singled out the assailant in earlier remarks delivered during an interview with a TV station across the border in Mexicali where the mayor referred to her as a racist.
“It is unfortunate because this is the year transgender and LGBTQ hate crimes and murders have been going up nationwide,” said Ureña about the incident, adding, “It’s unfortunate, but it makes you fight harder.”
The recall group has 120 days to collect 4,500 signatures to force a special election later this year.
A longer version of this story was originally published in Spanish by Beyond Borders Gazette.
This report is supported in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.
