FORT MYERS, Fla. — For 17 years, Councilman Johnny Streets Jr. has held the seat for Ward 2. Now, it's changing to the new councilperson: Diana Giraldo.
Giraldo is the first Latina to serve on City Council - which will now be predominantly women.
"All of us have to be a part of the change," Giraldo said.
Watch below to see the issues she wants to tackle:
Giraldo is no stranger to Council. She used to work for the city until 2014 and since then, has gone to countless meetings to voice her concerns.
"I care about the future of the community. I care about the vision, the quality of life," she explained. "What I want to see is more parks, more green space, alleviate some traffic and find some cool ways really enhance our public transit system."
As for the issues, Giraldo plans to take on flooding.
"We have to start looking at do we need to enhance our stormwater systems and do we have to create around those neighborhoods that flood a central system that can take some of this water," she said.
Housing is also at the top of mind - with the hope she can use her urban design, architecture and community development background.
"We have a big gap on our transitional housing, which is how do people get stabilized so they can go into permanent housing," Giraldo said.
Beyond the issues, she's breaking glass ceilings.
"In the history of Fort Myers, there's never been a Latina elected to the City Council," she said.
Giraldo will join Darla Bonk, Teresa Watkins-Brown and Terolyn Watson on council — making it predominantly women.
"I looked at it from the lens that we all have different backgrounds and experience and values and conditions that we bring to the table and the diversity to a place where we can put together a really good plan for the city," Giraldo explained.
It's a plan she wants to help form using community feedback and an increase in communication.
"It's going to take a little bit of education about how the community can be part of the change," Giraldo said. "More interactively we can pinpoint the challenges and formulate solutions."
She will have her first official meeting on Nov. 18.
