On September 12, the Richmond City Council unanimously voted in Ada Recinos as the newest member of the council, taking the seat that was vacated by Gayle McLaughlin, who resigned in order to focus on her race for California Lt. Governor.

Ada is a member of the Richmond Progressive Alliance Steering Committee, and one of the three candidates that the RPA membership endorsed for the vacant seat.

Read on for reactions from Ada, former Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin, and RPA Steering Committee member Marilyn Langlois:

My name is Ada Marisol Recinos; I am a daughter of immigrant parents from El Salvador, and I’m an older sister too. My family taught me kindness, compassion and most importantly, how to be a progressive, lead with vulnerability and celebrate life. It is what I would like to offer you and our city.

This is a difficult time for the most invisible and marginalized communities in our country. Now more than ever, we have to take care of each other. I am hopeful, because Richmond residents will not stand for the bigotry, corruption or lies. We know our local government has the responsibility and right to protect us from the action- or lack of action in the White House.

As your newest city Councilperson, I am committed to fostering that deep impact, right here. In the next few months, I look forward to leaning into solutions for the needs our our youth, exploring responsible development without displacement opportunities, supporting our entrepreneurs of color, and affirming the rights of our immigrant and black communities.

I was invigorated by the amount of candidates seeking appointment last Tuesday, as I am sure many of you were as well. We have a long list of leaders who care tremendously about our collective success. Let’s keep up that momentum. I’ll leave you with a core belief that a mentor shared with me a few years ago, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Thank you for the privilege of being able to move this work forward with all of you.

Former Richmond Mayor, Councilmember and RPA co-founder Gayle McLaughlin, had this to say:

On Tuesday, September 12, the Richmond City Council appointed Ada Recinos to fill the City Council seat that I vacated this past July to focus fully on my 2018 California Lt. Governor campaign.  

Ada is a 26 year old Latina activist who has served on the Richmond Human Rights and Human Relations Commission and on the Richmond Progressive Alliance Steering Committee.  Ada joins Jovanka Beckles, Eduardo Martinez, Melvin Willis, and Ben Choi as the 5^th RPA member serving currently on our City Council.

Ada will serve well the Richmond community with her progressive values and her commitment to continue the groundbreaking work of transforming Richmond for the benefit of its people.

I extend my personal best wishes to Ada as she embarks on this new endeavor and I also applaud the many members of the RPA who continue to lead by building local power and grassroots democracy!    

Marilyn Langlois, RPA Steering Committee member, who the membership named as their preferred choice among its three endorsed candidates added:

I'd like to extend my hearty congratulations to fellow RPA Steering Committee member Ada Recinos on her appointment to the Richmond City Council!  She brings excellent qualities to this task, and I look forward to working with her.  The RPA is thus maintaining its five votes on the council, offering many opportunities to put our values of people first over corporate interests into practice.  For those of you who weren't able to attend the Sept.12 city council meeting, when all the applicants presented themselves and the council voted on filling the vacancy, it can be viewed online from the City's website.

To everyone who encouraged me to apply for the vacancy, thank you for your support.  I urge us all now to keep our sleeves rolled up, continue building our movement and keep working together in every way we can to promote our common progressive agenda.