Our town is the only LA County community with an all-female council
At the Paramount City Council meeting on April 7, the winners of the March 2020 municipal election were given the Oath of Office to assume their seats. Incumbent Brenda Olmos and newly elected Isabel Aguayo and Vilma Cuellar Stallings will each serve a four-year term.
With the election of Aguayo and Cuellar Stallings, who join Peggy Lemons, Brenda Olmos, and Councilmember Laurie Guillen, Paramount becomes the only city in Los Angeles County with an all-female City Council.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the public could not attend the meeting in person, and except for City staff who were in the Council Chambers, Councilmembers all participated by teleconference.
Born and raised in Paramount, Olmos was a member of the city’s Public Safety Commission for 14 years, a board member for Paramount Girls Softball and Paramount Junior Pirates Football, past president of Paramount Pathways Hospice, and president of the Paramount Chamber of Commerce. She is currently a member of the Paramount Rotary Club, founded the “Healthy Paramount” initiative, is chair of the Paramount Heritage Parade Committee, and was given the local Elks Club’s Distinguished Citizen Award in 2018. Professionally, she is the director of Network and Business Development for AppleCare Medical Management. Olmos has been on the council for nine months, having been appointed in July 2019 to fill the vacated term of longtime Councilmember Diane J. Martinez, who retired.
A lifelong Paramount resident, Aguayo is a member of Paramount/Tepic Sister Cities and the Paramount Heritage Parade Committee and is director of Outreach in California for Share Hope USA, which has helped more than 9,000 homeless individuals in L.A. and Orange counties and collected more than 40,000 Play-Doh containers for Children’s Hospital L.A. Her family owns and operates a ceramics business in the City.
Cuellar Stallings grew up in Paramount and attended Paramount schools. She has served a combined seven years on the City’s Public Safety and Parks & Recreation commissions. She has spent her career with the Paramount Unified School District and is a member of Paramount/Tepic Sister Cities and the Paramount Heritage Parade Committee.
Also at the April 7 meeting, the City Council voted for Peggy Lemons to become mayor and Olmos as Vice Mayor. They will serve a one-year term in their respective roles. Lemons succeeds Tom Hansen, who retired after 13 years on the City Council. Olmos replaces Daryl Hofmeyer, who also retired from the City Council after serving for 17 years.
“These are obviously extraordinary times, and the City wants to thank all of our residents who have been staying ‘Safer at Home’ and following social distancing and other guidelines to help stop the spread of COVID-19,” said Mayor Lemons. “Our employees continue to provide the community with essential services. Our new and existing councilmembers are up to the challenges that we face. We stand ready to represent everyone in town as we get to the other side of this.”
