Gwendolyn Cross Runs to Represent City’s District 4

Gwendolyn Cross, a business owner who describes herself as a community activist, is running to represent Moreno Valley’s District 4 on the November 2014 ballot, four years after losing by 49 votes to former councilmember Marcelo Co in 2010. A political consultant and a former employee with the Los Angeles Unified School District, where she worked for 39 years before retiring in 2002, Cross is also the founder and CEO of California Women 4 Women and the Cross Consulting Group. Cross said she has several goals if elected to the council, namely community beautification and public safety. The city’s public safety program introduced by the Moreno Valley Police Department is a program she would like to see continue to help with public safety, she shared. District-specific town hall meetings regarding public safety is one way she feels it can be accomplished. Cross explained she also wants to see an increase in jobs and government transparency, trust and accountability—and she feels she can bring qualities to the dais to help toward this goal, she said. “I would bring integrity, honesty and transparency,” Cross said. “My history of community service, as a business owner, and understanding the issues of my community make me a prime candidate for the position of city council member.” Cross served four terms with the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee and served as the 61st AD Vice Chair. She also worked as a delegate to the California Democratic Party and served three terms as a commissioner with the Senior Citizens Advisory Board of Moreno Valley. She has also served as the Caliofrnia Democratic Party African American Caucus Regional Director, and in May 2013 was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown as a commissioner to the Disciplinary Review Division Bureau of Security and Investigative Services Committee, South. Other District 4 candidates include Weldon Boone, Yxstian Gutierrez, Jaime Moreno, Lori Nickel, Robin Wetmore and Wraymond Sawyerr.