Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez is the new President for the Southern California Association of Governments.
She is the youngest president to serve, and the first from Santa Ana. Previously, she was vice president for the 51-year-old organization, where her focus has been to improve transportation.
“It’s a tremendous honor to serve as the President of SCAG,” Martinez said.
In Santa Ana, Martinez has made a push for bike and pedestrian safety, something she looks forward to bringing with her in this new role.
“Multimodal transportation is equitable and it creates economic development opportunities. We need that,” Martinez said. “One in four children in our region lives in poverty.”
SCAG is the nation’s largest metropolitan planning organization, representing six counties, 191 cities and more than 18 million residents. SCAG undertakes a variety of planning and policy initiatives to plan for a livable and sustainable Southern California now and in the future. For more information visit SCAG’s website.