San Diego mayor Todd Gloria recently named soon-to-be Vista Grande Elementary fifth-grader Emma Smith as Mayor for the Day after the 9-year-old won an essay contest.
“This morning, I was kind of nervous, but then I was like, ‘This isn’t too bad,’ ” said Mayor Emma Smith on Monday priort to a news conference with her counterpart.
Mayor Smith said she wrote an essay about her desire to improve the city’s homeless situation, roadways, and the cleanliness of beaches and parks. Mayor Gloria picked her essay out of dozens of submissions.
“Emma’s going to have a very full day today," Gloria said. "This is not just a title. This is a job."
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The duo held a news conference, took a meeting at the San Diego Zoo, another with the mayor’s staff, then attended a city council meeting broken up by the all-important power lunch.
“She’s going to give the people of this city their money’s worth today,” said a smiling Gloria.
At the news conference, Smith schmoozed with Council President Sean Elo-Rivera and rubbed elbows with County Supervisor Nora Vargas.
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Gloria resurrected the Mayor for the Day program after it went dormant for quite a few years.
“I’m hopeful that this program — resurrecting it and inviting more young people to participate — is a way for more of them to get involved,” Gloria said.
Gloria said he participated in the program and that it was his earliest memory of wanting to get involved.
“I submitted my essay back in 1989," Gloria said with a smirk. “I didn’t win it. I was a finalist. I think it worked out OK.”
“I’m kind of shocked that I actually did it and he didn’t,” Mayor Emma Smith said, smiling. “I am proud of myself for doing this.”
Smith admitted politics would be her second choice for her career. Being a singer tops her list right now.
