MAYOR TALKS YOUTH ENGAGEMENT, FOOD INSECURITY, ECONOMIC GROWTH
After the council's mayoral rotation in mid-December 2023, Councilwoman Tania Garcia-Cadena became Woodland's third Latina mayor in a row following Councilwomen Victoria Fernandez and Mayra Vega.
Councilwoman Mayra Vega marked the start of the trend when she became mayor in December 2021 and Councilwoman Victoria Fernandez took over the role in December 2022.
Garcia-Cadena argued that the fact that a variety of people are running for council is showing the community that leadership positions are available to everyone.
“Perhaps this is an opportunity to go out there and say, “I'm the fifth female mayor,' which is kind of amazing in 150 years that we've only had five female mayors,” she emphasized. “I think that it's good for people in the community to know that they can also participate. It's not just businessmen, retired judges or you don't have to be a lawyer to serve on the council. It's available to people who are concerned about our city, who want to do something good and feel like they can make a difference.”
Garcia-Cadena, who represents District 3, was born and raised in Woodland and spent most of her professional career as a preschool teacher and parenting educator, according to her biography.
She is a founding member of the Woodland Schools Foundation, was awarded the city's community service award in 2012 and was recognized as a Yolo County Woman of the Year by Congressman John Garamendi in 2018.
As a councilwoman, her priorities included ensuring a safe community for all, encouraging economic growth, supporting energy savings programs and conservation efforts, and creating more youth-focused programs.
Youth engagement and education
When discussing youth engagement and education goals she hopes to accomplish as mayor, Garcia-Cadena noted that she serves on a couple of committees that work with the school district, the Yolo County Office of Education and the Woodland Community College “looking for ways to bring students' voice into what's happening in the community, whether that's community events or how they can help influence education.”
“We've got the Martin Luther King Jr. writing competition that's coming up,” Garcia-Cadena highlighted. “One of their essays will be chosen and the student will read it, which is something that we have sponsored for the last few years. I think doing things along those lines and just having real good open communication between the school district and the city is very important.”
Furthermore, she highlighted the city's Civic Fellowship Program that launched in summer 2023, which is the city's first
formal paid program to engage young adults early in their professional careers with public service opportunities.
“That was a way to get our older teens and young adults involved and the feedback we got was very positive,” she remarked. “It's a really good experience.”
Food insecurity issues
As executive director of the Woodland Food Closet, Garcia-Cadena is aware of the city's food insecurity issues. She noted that her organization meets the needs of people who might be falling short at the end or middle of the month by providing them with nutritionally balanced foods.
“Just recently, we had someone who received temporary emergency custody of their nieces and nephews,” she recounted. “They're a single person and they're not used to buying groceries for a family of five, especially with the way that food costs right now.”
She noted that the individual was stressed about how to handle the situation until a friend directed them to the food closet.
“We gave them enough food at least to get going and help them out,” Garcia-Cadena stressed.
Romi Holland, president of the board for the food closet, said Garcia-Cadena has been with the organization for six years noting that she brought a lot of new ideas when she first started.
“The board is very appreciative of what she has done and what she's even planning to do,” he stated. “There are other things that we're looking at for the future like how to get food, how to get it out to people, how to let the community know what we're doing and hopefully get the community more involved in us, and obviously, she's instrumental in doing that. If it hadn't been for her, we might not have been where we are today.”
When speaking about city efforts aimed at addressing food insecurity, Garcia-Cadena highlighted the city's proactive implementation of the Edible Food Recovery Program created by SB 1383 — a bill that requires jurisdictions to conduct education and outreach on organics recycling to all residents, businesses, haulers, solid waste facilities and local food banks.
“The city provided funding for organizations who participate in SB 1383 to kind of get it off the ground,” she said. “So an example is for the food closet, we applied for funding to help with transportation to move stuff back and forth and our vacuum sealer was purchased through funding from a grant through the city for SB 1383.”
Economic growth
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many local businesses are still struggling with labor shortages, supply chain issues and higher costs due to inflation.
However, Garcia-Cadena highlighted one issue many restaurant owners have complained to her about that she hopes to address this year — unlicensed food vendors.
“They started popping up during the pandemic and now they're throughout the city and that has really started to negatively impact our legitimate food establishments,” she emphasized. “It's taking a toll on their business so we need to work with the county and get that under control. We want them to go through the same process that our brick-and-mortar or food trucks have gone through.”
Additionally, the city has committed over $1 million in American Rescue Plan funds towards economic assistance and housing, which Garcia-Cadena noted has helped address several needs in the community including childcare through investments in the Woodland Haven Child Care Center and Boys and Girls Club.
“We helped Woodland Haven Child Care get up and going with a forgivable loan and they're doing great,” she asserted. “Child care was my field for a long time and I remember it was always, `We need quality child care,' and then the pandemic hit and it was just, `We need child care.' The word quality just got dropped.”
“To see that ARP funds were used towards such an amazing child care establishment is really amazing and heartwarming for me,” she continued. “I've talked to some families who have children there and they've just done a wonderful job with that.”