Residents of Imperial Beach had the opportunity to meet and speak with one of the contenders for a seat in the local City Council last weekend.

Candidate Paloma Aguirre held a campaign event at Rose Teeple Park on Saturday, Aug. 11, in which residents of the county’s smallest city were able to get to know her and her stance on issues affecting Imperial Beach.

“It was wonderful to have people come and share their morning with me and share their concerns with me,” Aguirre said.

Throughout the hour-long morning event, Aguirre was joined by some supporters and approached by others who wanted to know more about what she brings to the table.

“Our conversations were pretty great. Some folks have very serious concerns about the water quality and other meat-and-potato type of issues and that is why I am here to listen to them,” she said.

According to Aguirre, in her preliminary community assessments she saw that the top priority issue among the community is water quality and the related cross-border pollution from the Tijuana River. She said that because of her experience working for local environmental nonprofit Wildcoast, collaborating with officials south of the border, and time as a fellow in the NOAA Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship she has the tools to tackle this problem from a seat on the City Council.

“I can safely say that out of every single candidate running right now there is nobody more qualified than myself,” Aguirre declared.

Originally from the Bay Area, Aguirre has been a resident of Imperial Beach since 2003. She announced her candidacy earlier this year and has held similar events and walked throughout Imperial Beach neighborhoods to meet constituents.

Going into this year’s November general elections, Aguirre plans on holding similar events to meet with residents of specific neighborhoods.

“The reason I do these events because I want to come into the different communities and hear from (people living there),” Aguirre explained.

Unlike larger cities in the County, the Imperial Beach City Council is not divided into districts, meaning that a seat is an at-large position.

If Aguirre wins a seat in November, she will be the first Latina to ever hold a City Council position in Imperial Beach.