(August 26) Luis Vaquera said he does not consider his candidacy for Fontana mayor to be a challenge of the incumbent, Acquanetta Warren.
“The mayor is doing a great job,” Vaquera said.  “But there is always room for improvement. I want to go through the political process and earn the opportunity to do more than I am already doing.”
A native of Durango, Mexico, Vaquera has lived in Fontana for 17 years, and has served as PTA president, on the Measure C Oversight Committee and on the Parks and Recreation commission.
“I have lived here 17 years,” he said. “Hopefully, I am going to be here for the rest of my life. My children may continue to live here. I love Fontana. I want to make sure it continues to go the same way.  I have said I know I am running for political office but I do not consider myself to be a politician. I consider myself foremost to be a citizen of Fontana. I am not guided by special party interests or doing what a company or corporation or a political party wants. I look at the job as service for the community. You see politicians at the national level or the local level looking after the interests of the party or their supporters. That is not why I am running.”
He referenced his commission appointment and efforts with regard to Measure C and his chairmanship of the PTA.  “I didn’t just move here and decide to run even though I don’t know anything about the city. I am a simple man, who is proud of Fontana. If I did not live here or if my kids were not here, maybe I would not care about it, but now my foremost interest is to benefit the city.”
Vaquera said the major issue/challenge facing Fontana at present is “We are divided either by partisanship or racism. A lot of people are divided by race. It is often Latinos vs. Americans in any position you run for, school board or city council or whatever. If you are elected it has to be a whole array of people, not just your group, you have to represent.  But with the way it is there are a lot of people who are not represented. I want to change that.”
He took aim at another candidate in the race, former Congressman Joe Baca, who is challenging Warren. “He just moved here, having moved on from his position in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. I wouldn’t want anyone here like that guiding our city.”
Married with three children, Vaquera manages the truck maintenance division for a transportation company.