Michael Inzunza is running for Chula Vista City Council. He comes from a long line of public servants and political dynamos.

Next year will be the 50^th anniversary of his parents’ first major campaign victory. They ran a bilingual campaign as a couple for two local school board seats. They both won, defeating two incumbents. A picture of the couple campaigning at the San Ysidro apartment complex where the family lived is one of Michael’s earliest political memories. 

“Inzunza is part of a family of politicos who were once called ‘The Kennedys of the South Bay’ when his father, Ralph Inzunza Sr., served on the City Council of National City, his uncle, Nick Inzunza, served on the South Bay School District Board, and his older brother, Ralph Inzunza Jr., served on the San Diego City Council,” is how LaPrensa.org puts it.

Michael has never held elected office. He has, however, built a career as a community advocate, mostly in the educational space, not unlike his parents, who were among the first to lobby for bilingual education in California schools. “My parents aren't in any way the founders of bilingual education in the state of California, but absolutely within the first pioneers of initiating bilingual education,” Michael says on the podcast.

He's running for City Council because he believes he can make a difference in the community he loves, where just about everyone knows him and his family.

“Don't get me wrong, my name, ID and my familiarity with the South Bay really helps. But there hasn't been any member of my family in political office in 20 years. And there's never been an Inzunza elected in the city of Chula Vista. So I sort of really had to start from scratch, so to speak,” he says.

In one of the more cooler moments of this episode, listeners get to hear Juan and Michael reminisce about the time Michael was Juan’s speech teacher at Saint Augustine High School.

“What I remember from Michael – he followed the rules. He was a cool teacher. He was all about the teaching, and he was a proud Saintsman,” Juan says.

Tune into this episode of Dear San Diego to learn more about Michael, his family, Chula Vista, and more.

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