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City of San Diego

Mayor for a Day

On December 10, 2020, Todd Gloria was sworn in as San Diego's Mayor. He is the first person-of-color and the first LGBTQ person to ever be elected the city’s Mayor.

A third-generation San Diegan of Filipino, Dutch, Puerto Rican, and Native American descent, Mayor Gloria’s lifelong career in public service was inspired by a lesson his parents – a hotel maid and a gardener – taught him at a young age: if you care about something, then you should leave it better than you found it. That lesson continues to motivate Mayor Gloria to improve San Diego every single day.

Mayor Gloria grew up in the Clairemont neighborhood and attended Madison High School. At age 10, he was runner-up in a "Mayor For a Day" contest. Thirty-two years later, he was sworn in as San Diego’s Mayor - and now he’s bringing the contest back! The “Mayor for a Day” contest aims to foster and encourage leadership in young people living in San Diego. City of San Diego K-8th grade students are invited to write an essay or submit a video about how they would make the City of San Diego a better place if they were the Mayor. The selected winner will be given the opportunity to shadow the Mayor for a day.

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Submit a brief essay (up to 500 words) or short video (no more than 3 minutes) on how you would make the City of San Diego a better place if you were the Mayor.

Last day to join and submit essay(s) or video: December 13 at 11:59 p.m. Winner will be announced and notified the week of December 27th. 

For any questions about your essay or the submission process, please email Community Representative, Stephanie Estrada at estradas@sandiego.gov. Thank you for your participation, and best of luck!

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