Jenny Oropeza

Oropeza graduated from Alhambra High School in 1975 and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach. She began her career in public service as the first Latina student body president, and the first to serve two terms, at California State University, Long Beach. While still in college, she was appointed by then-governor Jerry Brown to the CSU system's Board of Trustees and served as the student member of the board.

Hillary Clinton and Jenny Oropeza, c. 1992

Oropeza was the first Latina to serve as a member of the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education and held office from 1988 to 1994. In 1994, she was elected the first Latina member of the Long Beach City Council and won re-election in 1998. As an MTA board member from 1996 through 2000, Oropeza represented the southeast cities of Los Angeles County and served on MTA's Planning and Programming and Construction committees. While with the MTA, she also chaired the Goods Movement Committee of the Southern California Association of Governments.

Oropeza was a member of the California State Assembly from 2000 to 2006 for the 55th Assembly District. In January 2002, with barely a year's experience in the Assembly, Oropeza was named chair of the Assembly Budget Committee — on the eve of the worst deficit in California history. She served two years. From 2004 to 2006, Oropeza chaired the Assembly Transportation Committee.

She was Vice Chair of the dual-house Latino Caucus. In 2005, the League of California Cities' Latino Caucus named her Legislator of the Year; in 2006, the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters awarded her the Smith-Weiss Environmental Champion Award for her work on issues from air pollution and cancer prevention to radiation and environmental advocacy. She long supported transportation improvements, including Proposition 42 in 2002, which sought to dedicate a portion of gasoline taxes toward construction.

In 2004 Oropeza was treated for liver cancer. She was admitted to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center for difficulty breathing, but later died there the evening of October 20, 2010. She had been undergoing treatment for a blood clot in her abdomen since May 2010. Oropeza was survived by her husband Tom Mullins, mother Sharon, sister Lynne, and brother John.[2]

Since her death, Oropeza has been honored by the Democratic Women's Study Club in Long Beach (the oldest continually meeting chartered Democratic club in America), which posthumously awarded her the Political Leadership Award, which is now named the Jenny Oropeza Political Leadership Award. Centro CHA in Long Beach posthumously awarded Oropeza the Create Change Community Service Excellence Award, now known as the Create Change: Jenny Oropeza Community Service Excellence Award. The Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club created the Jenny Oropeza Ally of the Year Award, which like the other two awards, was first given in 2011.

As a tribute to Oropeza's dedication to fostering protections for key California-state public health programs, the Los Angeles County Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, in joint collaboration with the six other California-based Komen Affiliates ("the California Collaborative"), established the Senator Jenny Oropeza Public Policy Internship position.

The Senator Jenny Oropeza Memorial Scholarship was established after her death, and is awarded annually at California State University, Long Beach to a student who is committed to a career in public service.

Dedication Plaque at Jenny Oropeza Community Center, Long Beach CA, 2011

On March 31, 2011 (birthday of Cesar E. Chavez), the City of Long Beach renamed the community center in Cesar E. Chavez Park the Jenny Oropeza Community Center. During her time in the Assembly, Jenny fought hard to develop and name the park in honor of labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.

On December 8, 2011 the Los Angeles Unified School District dedicated the Jenny Oropeza Global Studies Academy. The Academy is one of four academies at the Rancho Dominguez Preparatory School.

Sign at entrance to eastbound overcrossing on Pacific Coast Hwy. at Coil St. (S.E. corner), Wilmington, CA, 2016

In August 2012, in recognition of Oropeza's work to find the necessary funds to finance completion of a critical section of the Alameda Corridor project that had run out of money, the California Legislature approved the naming of the Honorable Jenny Oropeza Memorial Overcrossing for the section of Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington that created the bridge that spans the Alameda Corridor. Oropeza successfully worked with Federal, State and local government entities, as well as the railroads and Metropolitan Transportation Authority to find the funds to construct this last and critical portion of the project.

On April 21, 2014, State Senator Ricardo Lara introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 115 that would designate the portion of Interstate 710 Highway (known as the Long Beach Freeway) that runs between Pico Avenue and West Wardlow Road in the City of Long Beach as the Senator Jenny Oropeza Memorial Freeway. This legislation has yet to be completed.

Jenny Oropeza Elementary School dedication, Long Beach, CA, 2016

In 2016, the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved name changes for three schools, including International Elementary to be renamed Jenny Oropeza Elementary School, in honor of the former Long Beach Unified School District board member, Long Beach city councilwoman, state assemblywoman and state senator. The dedication ceremony took place on November 28, 2016. Oropeza, who died in 2010 at age 53, was the first Latina to serve on the Long Beach USD school board and the city council.