(September28) Gloria Garcia said she is running for Victorville City Council “because I have passion for this city and am dedicated to honesty, accountability and fiscal responsibility.”
A lifelong resident of Victorville, Garcia attended Victor Valley High, married at the age of 16 and obtained her high school diploma after completing high school coursework at Victor Valley College. She graduated from Skadron College in San Bernardino, where she studied business management and accounting. Since 1975, she has operated her own business, Garcia Bookkeeping & Income Tax Service.
The major challenge facing the city, Garcia said, “is that four of our five council members are there just for self-recognition, self-promotion and self-gain. Councilwoman Judith Valles is the only one in office at this time who is there for the people. The biggest issue is our need for more law enforcement. We need to increase our law enforcement resources so we can have a safer community. I have lived here all of my life. I can remember when this was a joyful place to live. People were happy to come live here with their families. Now that has changed. People who live here commute down the hill to go to work and many want to leave. No one wants to live here with the bad situation in our city.
“The reason that law enforcement is my priority is that eight years ago, my granddaughter, my son’s only child, was brutally murdered,” Garcia said. “She was stabbed, shot, set on fire and dumped in the desert. We had called the sheriff’s department to tell them she was missing and to ask for help. They did not have the manpower to carry out a search. Three days later they found her in the desert. When I heard they had found a dead woman, I felt in my heart it was her. We knew someone with the sheriff’s department and reported her missing again. They did an examination and it was her. I am coming forward to do something about this. One of the reasons I am running is I strongly urge more law enforcement. Eight years later, supposedly because of the cutbacks and the lack of funding, she is still a cold case. No one has been prosecuted. We have had to live with this for eight years.”
Garcia continued, “Being that I was born and raised in Victorville and was living here even before the city incorporated, I know that this was once a very safe community where families felt safe,” she said. “All that has changed. We once had reliable council members who were taking the city forward. There was progress and businesses coming in, families coming in from other areas. People knew this was a good area to raise families. All that changed. Now, we have city council members for way too long, decades. Mike Rothschild has been a council member for 28 years. The existing council has misspent money to the point that the city is on the brink of bankruptcy. There is a lot of corruption. Four of our council members are there for self gain. The grand jury found a lot of mismanagement of funds. The grand jury was very critical of the power plants they [the city council] invested in. The grand jury did not look at the whole picture. The city’s books were altered. Millions and millions of dollars were lost that will never be recovered. They use the excuse that the city’s redevelopment agency has been discontinued. Well, what happened to the money? The golf course continues to lose $1.2 million per year. There was $13 million lost from Southern California Logistics Airport. The power plants lost close to $200 million. On the books we have lost $450 million, but the books have been altered. Councilwoman Valles says it is closer to twice that. How can all of that money have disappeared and no one knows where it went? The grand jury says there has been fraud and corruption and mismanagement but so far no one has been prosecuted. They are in denial. They still feel the city is fine and there is progress. There is not enough money to maintain roads and parks. I am very concerned about our community, our infrastructure, our roads and parks. When people have failed like they have, it is time to bring in someone with a better vision before they spend more and lose more money. That is why I am running.”
Garcia said she will work to solve the law enforcement problem by “Getting on the council and working with the other council members. They eliminated five sheriff’s department positions that were already in place but unfilled. It was because of the lack of funds that those jobs were eliminated. We have to get funding to bring in more law enforcement. We have to go through the channels. We need the support of our district supervisor.”
Garcia said she is qualified to serve on the city council because of her professional acumen. “I am not a certified public accountant and not trying to pass myself off as one,” she said. “I do have experience in accounting. As part of my bookkeeping service, I prepare everything from payroll to balance sheets. I am registered with the state and Internal Revenue to prepare tax filings. With that experience I am able to look at budgets and look out for the taxpayers. The current council is not doing that. They say they have a balanced budget but how can you have a balanced budget with all that debt? There is money coming into the city. The city does generate money through property tax and sales tax, but property tax is down. I can look into the books to control spending and waste. I can achieve savings and I can push to have additional officers on the streets and push to have the city return to what it was like when I was born, with sound management. I feel I can contribute in that way.
“I was born and raised here,” Garcia said. “My family has been here over 100 years. We were a pioneering family of Hispanics who settled into this area. I grew up here and have a passion for the community.”
Garcia was the treasurer for the High Desert Chamber of Commerce for five years. She is a member of the National Association of Notaries. She was the compliance officer for the Oro Grande Credit Union.
With her husband, Garcia has two children.