City Council unanimously selects Rick Ramirez as new mayor
Jennifer Perez and Rick Ramirez at Tuesday’s reorganization meeting. (Photo by Vincent Medina)
NORWALK — During the city council reorganization meeting Tuesday evening, Rick Ramirez succeeded Jennifer Perez to become the new Norwalk mayor.
The council unanimously voted for Ramirez to assume the role after the then-vice mayor Tony Ayala nominated him, and Perez seconded the motion.
“I’m humbled and I’m thankful for former-vice mayor Tony Ayala for the nomination and the support of the city council. As a team player, I will continue to work together for the betterment of Norwalk,” said Ramirez. “It’s going to be a challenging year, I’m sure not as challenging as the former mayor served. There is a lot of uncertainty, a lot of unknown, and a lot of good friends who pass along the way, but we will continue to fight for them and move forward.”
The new mayor quickly nominated his vice mayor Ana Valencia, who joined the meeting through zoom after testing positive for COVID-19.
“This is an unprecedented time. Unfortunately, I am COVID positive. I am triple vaccinated so I don’t have to come into the hospital. My doctor and I credit that to the vaccine,” said the new vice mayor. “It’s not as bad as it could have been.”
Before the new mayor assumed his position, the community took a moment to praise outgoing-mayor Perez for leading Norwalk through the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
State senator of the 32 senate district Bob Archuleta then presented Perez with a certificate of recognition on behalf of the state for, “her work as mayor during the ‘20-’21 term. Providing guidance and a strong sense of community, especially during the pandemic, to create a high quality of life in the city of Norwalk.”
During Perez’ time as mayor, Project Room Key was able to find homes for the unhoused by working with the county and social services. Norwalk also saw the opening of multiple restaurants, the groundbreaking of the Sprouts grocery store, street renovations and improvements to Holifield park.
“Approaching this meeting has made me pause and think about what our community has endured over these 21 months. We have a lot to be grateful for,” said Perez. “We have learned how important our health and the health of our loved ones are to us. We have learned how things can be taken away from us so quickly.”
Norwalk returned to in-person events after the pandemic prevented large gatherings last year. Residents commented that they were happy to be back with the community, and hoped it would encourage everyone to stay safe.
The outgoing mayor presented the council with a token of her appreciation to thank them for their hard work during her time as mayor.
Valencia quickly opened her gift to find toffee and a large Norwalk ornament.