Elected: March 2009
Term expires: March 2013

Phone: (310)952-1700 Ext. 1714
Email:  JulieRuizRaber@msn.com

Councilwoman Julie Ruiz-Raber was first elected to the Carson City Council in March 2003. On March 3, 2009, she was re-elected back into office after a two-year absence. She is currently serving as Carson’s Mayor Pro Tem, a post which she also held twice during her first term.

Prior to being an elected official, because of her leadership and active role in various civic and religious organizations and community programs, Julie was already a known figure in the Carson community.

Julie is the ninth child in a family of 15. She was born in Clovis, New Mexico to parents Jose Perez Ruiz and Albina Sena. She moved to Carson with her family in 1972 because she and her husband Brian wanted their children to be raised in an ethnically-diverse community.

Julie has always been actively involved in various civic projects and is a role model for many women. She is the past president and is currently the Ways and Means Vice President of the Carson Women’s Club (the City’s official hostesses). She played a major role in the club’s successful fundraising events for Carson’s youth, and in increasing the club’s membership to over 200. Julie also served as chair of the City’s Public Relations Commission (2002-2003).

She currently serves as a Eucharistic Minister, Lecturer and an active member of the Social Justice Committee at St. Philomena Church in Carson. She has also served as P.T.A. President, and at age 19, became the founding President of the Edwards Air Force Base Airmen’s Wives Club.

As a councilmember, Julie established the Cesar Chavez Day celebration, which has been held annually, during the month of March for the past six years.

In 2002, Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza selected Julie as California’s 55th Assembly District “Woman of the Year” for which she was presented with a special award from then Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson during a special session at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Later in the same year, she was honored by the City of Carson’s Unity Day Latino Subcommittee as the “Hero of the Community” and by the Los Angeles Democratic Party as the “Democrat of the Year” for California’s 55th Assembly District. Her other accolades include the 2005 NAACP Legislative Award, the California State University Hills (CSUDH) Cesar Chavez Community Service Award, and High Steps Achiever’s Community Partner Award.

Outside her political career and in between volunteer community service, Julie has been a Community Services Teacher at Los Angeles Harbor College for over 35 years, teaching the art of dance. In February 2004, she retired as Administrative Assistant to the Vice President and Plant Manager of Farmer Brothers Coffee Company in Torrance, California, where she was employed since 1980.

In 2006, Julie was elected to serve as 1st Vice President of the Hispanic Elected Local Officials (HELO) during the National League of Cities Conference held in Charlotte, North Carolina. That same year, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO). In addition, she has been serving as a member of the Conservation Corps of Long Beach Board of Directors, which assists Carson, Long Beach and Compton at-risk youth ages 18-25 to continue their education and learn job skills, and to finding meaningful employment. She also represents the City of Carson on several Local and State Committees.

Julie and her husband Brian have been married for 50 years and together they have four sons and 10 grandchildren.

~ Last Update:  May 4, 2011  ~