On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted for Councilwoman Nury Martinez to become its next president — making her the first Latina to lead the 15-member council in its 110-year history.
“I’d like my daughter – not only my daughter but other little girls just like her – to know that women in this city can grow up to be anything they want to be,” Martinez, who is also the second woman president, told reporters.
Current Council President Herb Wesson nominated Martinez to replace him last week, and the council unanimously voted to elect her for the position Tuesday morning.
Martinez, who represents the San Fernando Valley area, will begin the position on January 5.
According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the Mexican American politician was elected to city council in 2013. Since then, she has taken strong positions to end homelessness, including in clearing encampments in the Sepulveda Basin; instill a rent control law and support housing projects and public transportation expansions.
Councilman Joe Buscaino, from South Bay, will act as president pro tem until Martinez officially takes office in the new year.