You know the saying “There’s a new sheriff in town,” well that’s true for Delano, but that sheriff is the new mayor.
23ABC sat down with the city’s new leader to talk about how he plans to shape Kern County’s second-largest city.
“I do not take this position lightly, I do not take the responsibilities we have lightly, we are here as public servants,’ said Mayor Salvador Solorio-Ruiz.
From council member to mayor — the switch took place at a special city council meeting on December 1.
Unlike other cities, Delano residents do not vote for a mayor. Instead, council members appoint one of their own each year.
Now reaching his sixth year on the council, Solorio-Ruiz has accomplished things such as creating know your rights campaign for immigrants in Delano, as well as creating scholarships for students who attend Bakersfield college Delano campus.
But he has more ideas on the way.
“Absolutely, when we talk about investing in our young people continue to do that, economic development, bringing in more jobs - hopefully good paying jobs, seeing more housing developments, and seeing how we can improve our infrastructure as well.
On the streets of Delano, we decided to ask some residents what they would like to see in the upcoming year.
“I want more sports recreation fields, either like softball, soccer, or basketball, more traffic lights along county line, especially at the Burger King intersection,” said resident Abraham Robles.
“Maybe a place somewhere where families can go out and enjoy themselves, something artistic maybe,” said resident Irma Jimenez.
While the community and the mayor pulse with powerful new ideas, he warns that real change won't happen overnight.
“Please have patience, we too live in this city, and we want to see it grow and we want to see it flourish in a way thats going to work for all of us and we are not coming in to make more damage were here to help our community,” said Mayor Solorio-Ruiz.
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz says many discussions about Delano’s future are still ongoing, but no major projects are finalized yet. He encourages residents to reach out to city officials with any questions.
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