Councilmember Paloma Aguirre

City of Imperial Beach

Paloma Aguirre has been working for over twelve years to address Imperial Beach’s most pressing threats to its quality of life, including both environmental and public health issues. Aguirre has a Masters of Advanced Studies in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego. Early in her career, Aguirre worked as a social-justice community organizer in South San Diego, helping low-income Hispanic families address immigration, foreclosure, and predatory lending issues. In 2006, she joined WILDCOAST, where she became U.S.-Mexico Border Director, leading efforts to conserve 79,642 acres of coastal, marine and island ecosystems in the San Diego-Tijuana border region. She currently oversees projects to conserve coastal ecosystems in the border region, ocean policy at the state and federal levels as Coastal and Marine Director. In 2014, Aguirre was named Woman of the Year by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez for outstanding leadership in environmental conservation and for her work restoring the Tijuana River Valley. Aguirre represents the City of Imperial Beach on the Metropolitan Transit System Board, is the elected Citizens Forum Board Co-chair for the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), served as an advisor to the State Lands Commission in their development of its Environmental Justice Policy, is co-founder of the Tijuana River Action Network, a member of Tijuana and Rosarito Clean Beaches Committees, and is a member of the IBWC Minute 320 Binational, Water Quality, and Solid Waste working groups.