"I love to help people," Alvarez said.  "If I see someone in need of help, I go out of my way to do it."

Alvarez has worked as a Los Angeles County social services worker for 19 years.  At her job, Alvarez determines whether people who seek social services are eligible for government assistance.

Alvarez says that her nearly two decades of prioritizing how government money is spent has taught her fiscal responsibility and the human relations skills needed to lead Bell.

Alvarez is one of 10 candidates running for a full term on the City Council on March 8.  Seven other candidates are running in a separate recall election to succeed councilmembers Teresa Jacobo and Luis Artiga.

Alvarez is a former leader of the Bell Association to Stop the Abuse (BASTA), the city's largest reform group. She joined BASTA a few days after the organization was formed last year in response to the salary scandal.  Her role in the organization included going on 3 a.m. flier runs and calling countless neighbors and community members.

"I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart so that I can help more people than I ever imagined," Alvarez said.  "I normally try to help people one at a time, but this will be 35,000 community members that will be impacted and that's my motivation to do something good."

Alvarez is one of four members of a slate of candidates called United 4 Bell. She is campaigning with Ali Saleh and Fidencio Gallardo, both former BASTA leaders.

The three candidates met United 4 Bell’s fourth member, Danny Harber, at community events and decided to run together. Harber is running in the separate recall election for the seat of councilwoman and vice mayor Teresa Jacobo.

Alvarez said many citizens in Bell sensed something amiss in their city government for a long time, but could not access the documentation needed to uncover the facts. When the Los Angeles Times broke the story last July, Alvarez said, she, like many others, felt both a sense of sadness and relief.

“I was happy that finally the truth came out,” Alvarez said. “I didn’t know how much the salaries were, but there was sadness because I knew that the money, however much, was coming out of our community.”

When neighbors and community members first began asking Alvarez if she would run for City Council, her initial reaction was, “No, of course not!” However, she soon realized that this would be her chance to improve the city.

“If we have never been involved, this is the time we need to come together and make the change,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez turned to her faith to help decide whether to run.

“I don’t go to any church, but I believe in God and I said, ‘God, people are telling me to run and they’ve planted this little seed to grow. If this is for me, open all the doors you can. If this is not for me, close all the doors and put all the barriers that you can for me to not go on.’”

Just two days before the deadline to declare her candidacy, Alvarez began collecting the 20 signatures needed to put her name on the ballot. As more and more community members supported her campaign, Alvarez felt more motivated to continue the long road to March 8.

“People were asking me why I want to run and I said it’s because I like to help people,” Alvarez said. “I don’t have all the answers, but I’m willing to look for the answers and try to have the city back to how it used to be 31 years ago or even better.”

Alvarez remembers a time when Bell was “an amazing place to live.” When she was growing up in Bell, lawns were groomed, the downtown area was bustling, and there was a movie theatre. She said residents were proud to live in Bell.

“I would like to change Bell from the tired, old, shameful city to a place where people have pride in where they live,” Alvarez said. “I want to beautify the city and make it a place where there are more restaurants and more small businesses. I want Bell to be a place where everyone is welcome to come and shop and eat and enjoy a nice walk around the city.”

Alvarez was born in Mexico City and moved to Bell at the age of 14. When she first arrived in the United States, she did not speak English.

Alvarez rode the bus every day to Verdugo Hills High School, located 30 miles north in Tujunga in the San Fernando Valley, to take special English as a Second Language classes that were not offered at Bell High School.

She became eligible to transfer to Bell High School, but decided to stay and graduate with her friends at Verdugo Hills.

After high school, Alvarez attended Los Angeles Trade Technical College and took at job at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Six months later, she began working as a social services worker for the county.

Alvarez continued taking classes at Compton College (now known as the El Camino College Compton Center) and Cerritos College, eventually earning an associate’s degree from Cerritos College. Alvarez then enrolled at Vanguard University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

“I always said, ‘If I had stayed in Mexico, I would have become an attorney’, but when you start to learn another language, it’s like your dreams get put on hold,” Alvarez said. “You put your dreams aside and you just do what you have to do to pay your bills.”

Alvarez has two children: a son, 12, who attends Magnolia Science Academy, Bell’s first charter school, and a daughter, 24, who is studying criminal justice at East L.A. College.

Alvarez said she values the importance of money, but knows that honesty is more important than becoming wealthy.

“I don’t want to be Teresa Jacobo or any of these crooks,” Alvarez said. “I don’t want to be a shame to my kids. When I pass away, I want to leave an honest legacy. Money is good, but it will never be good to have money and starve the whole community.”

Alvarez said she urges fellow Bell residents to participate in their government, not just leading up to the election, but in the future as well.

“If you don’t participate, it’s not going to go away,” Alvarez said. “Someone else is going to make the choice for you. It’s like brushing your teeth every day. Every time we have a meeting, you need to invest in yourself, because in the end, you’re going to be the one paying the price if we don’t make good decisions.”

 
Reach reporter Vicki Chen here.