Council Members
Hilario “Larry” Gonzales, Mayor
Hilario “Larry” Gonzales was appointed Mayor of the City of Vernon in April of 2009. Mayor Gonzales has been a resident of the City of Vernon since 1952. In early 1974, he was appointed to fill a vacant seat on the Vernon City Council and was elected to serve for his first full four-year term in March of 1976. Mayor Gonzales was elected Mayor Pro Tempore in February of 2007. Mayor Gonzales retired from Sunbeam, a manufacturer of commercial and industrial lighting, in 1994, after 45 years of service. During his tenure at Sunbeam, Mayor Gonzales held numerous positions - working at the assembly line, being a night-shift supervisor for 18 years, and ending as a foreman. Mayor Gonzales graduated from Vernon City Elementary School in 1944, although his family lived west of Alameda Street (and outside the City of Vernon) when he was a boy.
Mayor Gonzales has not only served the industrial community of the City of Vernon as a City Councilman since 1974, but he has also represented his community by serving many years as a Board Member of area organizations:
- Los Angeles County Sanitation - 23rd District since 1974.
- Southeast Community Development Corporation (SCDC) – since 2000.
- Southeast Water Coalition (SEWC) – since 2001.
And, beginning early in 2009 he added additional board positions:
- Central Basin Water District
- Los Angeles County Sanitation – 1st District
- Los Angeles County Sanitation – 2nd District
Mayor Gonzales considers it his mission to promote the City of Vernon, and ensure that the City remains a business friendly, exclusively industrial community.
