Que Pasa Calexico

Welcome to the 2023 season of the podcast!  Today I had the pleasure of talking to two very talented female boxers who happen to be sisters Liz and Yaya Oceguera.  Trained and coached by their dad they have won national championships and aspire to one day represent the USA in the Olympics, if possible Paris 2024.  These young ladies shared with us some of their experiences as boxers...

Today I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Imperial Valley College President Dr. Lennor Johnson.  We talked about some of the amazing accomplishments our local community college has accomplished, like being on the top 10 list of ASPEN list.  But Dr Johnson was here to talk and promote a measure that's on the November ballot, Measure B.  If passed they hope to bring in close...

Today I had the pleasure of talking to a candidate for El Centro City Council Ms Sonia Carter.  This is her 2nd time running for city council, back in 2020 she ran for the 1st time and she was amazed of how well her campaign did despite being in the middle of the pandemic.  She feels that this time around she can do a much better job now that she can go out and talk to the community in p...

Today I had the pleasure of talking to hard working stay at home mom who left a successful professional career to spend more time with her son Mathew who is in the autism spectrum.  After leaving the workforce she has spent her spare time advocating for all children with autism.  She spent a lot of her time living in the outskirts of Westmorland but has recently moved into town and this...

Today I had the please of talking to a former Calexico City Council and former Mayor for the City of Calexico and now candidate for Calexico City Council Mr Bill Hodge.  If elected this would be his 3rd term as a member of Calexico City Council.  Mr Hodge hopes that his experience and willingness to stand up to administration to fight for what's best for the city and it's residents will...

Today I had the pleasure of talking to assemblymember for California's 56th district, Eduardo Garcia.  This is the third time I've had the honor of talking to assemblymember Garcia but this is the 1st time we talked in person.  In today's episode we talked about some of the legislature that was recently passed, some of the issues our district is facing, some of the projects coming down t...

Today I had the pleasure of talking to a life long Imperial resident and now candidate for Imperial City Council, Mrs Ida Obeso-Martinez.  She is also a member of MANA of Imperial Valley and part of the board for ARC of Imperial Valley.  This is her first time running for an elected position and although she already helps her community in many other ways she feels being part of the city...

Today I had the pleasure of having a returning guest, Ms Gina Dockstader.  Gina is a 4th generation Imperial Valley native and local entrepreneur who is running for a seat in the IID board of directors.  Ms Dockstader is hoping to represent the people of division 3, this is her first time running for a public office position and was able to be the top vote getter in the June elections an...

Today I had the pleasure of talking to an El Centro native who is now running for the position of district attorney in the November election, my guest is Mr George Marquez.  He ran a successful campaign in June and now is hoping to have your vote in the November election. Follow George Marquez' campaign on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/georgemarquezforda  Follow George Marquez' camp...

My guest today has been an employee for the IID for the past 48 years, he's was a city council member for the city of Brawley for 12 years and now he's a candidate for board of directors for IID division 3, Mr Don Campbell.  He was 2nd in votes in the June election and is now facing Ms Gina Dockstader in the November run off election. Huge thanks to Calexico Brewing Company for allowing us to...

Today I had the please of sitting down and having a chat with the Mayor for the City of El Centro and now candidate for re election for El Centro city council, Mr Tomas Oliva.  Tomas ran for city council a couple of times and lost and then in 2018 he was elected for city council and is now at the tailed of his first term.  He feels that with the knowledge he acquired in his first term as...

Today I had the pleasure of talking returning guest, Mr Gil Rebollar.  Gil is in the last months of his 1st term as Brawley Elementary Board of Trustees and he is now a candidate for Brawley City Council.   Follow Gil's campaign on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/BESDGil Follow Gil's campaign on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/gilrebel/ Huge thanks to Calexico Brewing Company for...

Today I had the please of talking to Kristian Salgado, the new Imperial County Master Gardener Coordinator.  The UC Master Gardener Program has been in existence for almost 40 year in the state of California but this will be the 1st year we will have one in the Imperial County.  Kristian and I talked about gardening, composting and a lot of other things about growing and plating food or...

Today I had the please of talking to Luis Daniel Sandoval aka El Pinkis.  For those of you who don't know what Pinkis is, it started as a hot dog cart and now it has evolved into a Food truck.  Luis and I talked about how and why he decided to start a hot dog cart and the hurdles he faced to get all of his permits and licenses in order.  We also talked about local politics and what...

Today I had the please of having a conversation with Calexico's new city manager, Mrs Esperanza Colio Warren.  She is Calexico's 2nd female city manager and the first Mexican Female city manager.  Ms Colio Warren shared with me what motivated her to get to where she is now and what she hopes to accomplish has Calexico's new city manager.  She knows its going to be hard work but she'...

Today I visited a place some of us used to visit as a cool place where you could hand out but quietly and also to do research for any school project, our local library Camarena Memorial Library.  I had the pleasure of talking to library manager Mrs Lizeth Legaspi.  We talked about how she became the library's manager and how they've adapted during COVID and how they are trying new things...

Today I had a returning guest, Mr Eric Reyes.  The fist time Eric was on we talked a little bit about himself and we didn't get a chance to talk about some of the committees he's involved and why he feels it's important for everyone to have a seat on the table.  We also talked about the June 7 elections and why we need more people to vote and to believe that their vote does count. ...

Today I had the pleasure of talking to the current Imperial County Assessor who is now running for re-election for another term, Mr Robert Menvielle.  We spoke about his experience as the Imperial County assessor and why he should be re-elected to be our county's assessor for another 4 years. Follow Mr Venvielle's Campaign on Facebook!! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079554915175...

Today I had the pleasure of talking to a former Brawley city council member and now candidate for IID director for Division 3, Mr Don Campbell.   Mr Campbell is a El Centro native but has lived in Brawley for the past 20 or so years.  He's worked for the IID for the past 48 year and wants to bring his knowledge as a IID employee to the IID board of directors. Follow Don's campaign on Fac...

Today I had the pleasure of talking to mayor pro-tem for the city of Calipatria, she is also the director-coordinator for the Niland Family Resource Center and advocate for our the low income families and the under served families in the North end of the Imperial County, my guest for today was Mrs Maria Nava-Froelich.  Follow Maria Nava-Froelich's campaign on Facebook! https://www.facebook.co...

Today I had the pleasure of talking to a 1st generation Calexico, Calexico High Graduate, UC Santa Barbara Graduate and now Imperial County Board of Supervisors candidate for division 1, Briant Fabela Luna.   Follow Briant on Instagram!! https://www.instagram.com/briant.fabela/ Follow Briant on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/BriantForCalexico Thank You to my Anchor Sponsors! Camilo Garcia...

Today I had the please of having a conversation with a life long Imperial Valley native and now candidate for IID division 4, Mrs Gina Dockstader.  She is a 4th generation Imperial Valley native with a long background in agribusiness, she's a Calipat graduate with a BA in public relations and minors in business and Spanish.  This is her first time running for any public office position a...

Today I had the pleasure of talking to one of the two candidates for Imperial County Assessor, Mr Ricardo Avila.  In his early 20's he worked for the assessor's office, he later when into the private sector but eventually came back to the Assessor's office.  After working for several assessors he feels it's time for a change and he feels he's can lead the office to a positive change. Fol...

Today I had the pleasure of talking to former mayor and current city council from the city of Imperial, Ms Karin Eugenio.  She is now also a candidate for IID Division 5, in today's episode we talked about her experience as a city council member and how she plans on helping the imperial Valley as an IID director if elected. Follow Karin's campaign on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/Karinfo...

Today I had the please of talking to two current IID directors running for re-election, Alex Cardenas and Norma Sierra Galindo.  They are the incumbents for Division 5 and Division 1.  Lately the IID has been the talk of the town and I feel our community needs to keep an eye out for this race because our future depends on what happens at IID. Follow Alex Cardenas' Campaign on Facebook! h...