Hector De La Torre

Vice-Mayor, City of South Gate, California

Hector De La Torre is the Vice-Mayor of South Gate, a working class community in southeast Los Angeles County in which he grew up. Elected in 1997, Mr. De La Torre has focused on improving communication and involvement between the city and the community, on better relations between the police and residents, on improving infrastructure, on better long-term planning in city management, on addressing budget issues, and on obtaining more and better education resources for the city’s children.

Mr. De La Torre is currently a project manager with Southern California Edison’s Corporate Communications Department. Previously, Mr. De La Torre served as assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Labor in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, he served as legislative assistant to Representative Alan Wheat (D-Mo.) and as legislative director to Representative Richard Lehman (D-Calif.).

Mr. De La Torre majored in diplomacy and world affairs with a focus on Latin America at Occidental College in Los Angeles, as well as pursuing a similar focus during graduate studies in international relations at George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs.

Mr. De La Torre is married to Christine and has a daughter Elinor and a son Henrik.