Dr. Araiza was born and raised in Corpus Christi, TX. She is the daughter of Juan and Maria Teresa Araiza, and the granddaughter of Juan and Andrea Araiza and Francisco (Panchito) Fregoso Gomez. As part of the court-mandated integration of Corpus Christi Independent School District, she was bussed to Parkdale Elementary instead of attending her neighborhood school, Solomon Coles. She graduated from Carroll High School, Del Mar College, and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi. Later, she earned a PhD in Sociology from Boston College. She currently works at Del Mar College, where she is an assistant professor of Sociology and the coordinator of the Mexican American Studies Program. She is married to Ricardo Ortiz; they have three daughters—Mia, Lina, and Lia. While Dr. Araiza has always been active in the community since she returned to Corpus Christi, her civic-engagement changed dramatically in 2016 following the third water boil in ten months. That’s when she co-founded a local grassroots group called For the Greater Good (FtGG). This group has been watching city council meetings and advocating for the community ever since. First, their goals were to encourage the city to have a plan in place for vulnerable populations when the city’s infrastructure failed, to learn as much as they could about the city’s water infrastructure, and to attend city and water-related meetings. Through those efforts, Dr. Araiza and members of FtGG became aware of how much the fossil fuel industry was driving city policy. Then, in 2018, FtGG and Dr. Araiza found themselves fighting budget cuts to the libraries and senior centers. How could a city with some of the richest corporations in their community not be able to fund basic community services?
Improve access to city resources and services Address the stray animal problem Cool hot zones
Invest in neighborhood parks Protect/Expand library, senior center, park, and pool resources Repair Streets & sidewalks. Examine and build a city budget that serves the people first Expand city funding through grants
Pursue science-based, affordable water security Demand that the greatest users conserve water like the rest of us Planning for future generations Hold corporations, the largest water users, accountable for their fair share!
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Campaign Headquarters
916 Silver Spur Rd, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274