Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre will serve as vice chair of the California Coastal Commission throughout 2025.
Commissioners unanimously elected Aguirre — the first Latina mayor of Imperial Beach — as vice chair for the upcoming year during this week’s monthly commission meeting in Newport Beach. She joins newly elected Chair Justin Cummings, the first African-American to serve on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, according to a release by Aguirre’s office.
The agency said Aguirre takes over as vice chair for Commissioner Linda Escalante following this month’s three-day meeting.
“Paloma has a deep commitment to the working people of California and their right to enjoy the state’s iconic coastline,” said Escalante in a statement. “She is a brilliant leader who can help the Coastal Commission thrive over the next year.”
“I am honored and humbled by the support of my colleagues to work with our new chair,” Aguirre, who enters her second year as commissioner, said in a statement.
San Diego coast representative
The Coastal Commission is a state agency created to protect and conserve California’s 1,100 miles of coastline by regulating land use and ensuring public access.
“Ensuring equitable access for all is one of my highest priorities. That includes addressing the Tijuana river pollution,” said Aguirre, who noted the more than 1,000 consecutive days of beach closures in Imperial Beach.
Aguirre added her priorities also include “making sure that our projects at the coast are developed in a sustainable way that includes affordable housing and making sure that we fight and continue to fight and be resilient in the face of climate change.”
Aguirre, 47, brings what she says is a bilingual and bicultural lived experience that allows her to be a leading advocate in the fight against sewage pollution.
“It’s very important to continue to have diverse voices in these spaces that have historically been so heavily dominated by homogeneous views and perspectives,” Aguirre said.
According to the Imperial Beach municipal website, Aguirre was born in San Francisco and raised in Mexico before returning to the U.S. in 2001.
In 2018 she was elected as the first Latina Imperial Beach council member.
Since then, she has focused on the Tijuana sewage crisis and has helped secure $300 million to upgrade wastewater infrastructure. She also led the creation of a housing department and supported the creation of Imperial Beach’s Parks, Recreation and Community Department, according to her online page.
“I’m certainly going to continue to prioritize the Tijuana sewage crisis, it’s the biggest environmental justice issue in the entire California coast,” said Aguirre.
Aguirre said this role is an opportunity to elevate the voices of those most impacted by coastal and environmental challenges.
“The California coast is one of our most precious resources and it’s for everyone to enjoy,” said Aguirre. “My priority is making sure that everyone has access to the coast in a way that’s affordable, that’s accessible, that’s easy, that there’s no barriers to that.”
Aguirre is one of 12 voting members of the California Coastal Commission, six of whom are local elected officials. A total of 15 members make up the California Coastal Commission board.
“For me it’s so important to bring my lived experience and look at things through my lens — a working class background,” said Aguirre. “So when decisions come before me I try to keep those lived challenges in mind … decisions that could impact people of similar backgrounds that are in a different trajectory in their lives right now … always staying within our mandated jurisdiction that has been given to us by the people of California.”
Aguirre represents the San Diego region for a term spanning February, 2023 through May 20, 2025.
