Priscilla Flores : Mayor

Mayor Priscilla Flores was elected to her first term on the Bell Gardens City Council on March 8, 2005. Recently, Ms. Flores was selected by her colleagues to serve as Mayor. A full-time teacher in the Montebello Unified School District, she currently teaches Special Education students at Bell Gardens High School.

Ms. Flores has lived in Bell Gardens for 21 years and has a 10-year-old son. A graduate of  Suva Intermediate and Bell Gardens High School, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Liberal Art from Cal State Northridge and her Multiple Subject Teaching Credentials and a Masters degree in Multicultural Education from National University. In preparing for her teaching career, Ms. Flores developed a  passion for teaching children with special needs. This lead to her decision to pursue her Special Education Credentials, which she is currently doing at Cal State Dominquez Hills.

Ms. Flores stresses the importance of education to her students in the hope that they will prosper and have a positive impact on the City of Bell Gardens. She is compassionate about her role as a teacher. “I believe my mission as an educator is to be a dream maker.”  

“Teachers have the amazing opportunity to affect the life of a student, sometimes in ways they may never realize,” Ms. Flores explained. “As students, we can all remember the teachers who had the most influence on our lives. I decided to become a teacher because I desired to be like those who taught me, inspired me, cared about my future."

She believes that all young people should have an opportunity to apply the knowledge, and practice the skills they acquire from the classroom to make their lives fuller and their community a better place to live. “When they learn to use these skills and become masters of that knowledge, they can become positive contributors to society,” she explained.

As part of her responsibilities as Mayor, Flores serves as a member of the Los Angeles County Sanitation Board District, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, the League of California Cities Southeast Cities Committee, and the Southeast Community Development Corp.

When not teaching or carrying out her time-consuming responsibilities as Mayor, Ms. Flores enjoys spending time with her husband and son, which she says is an extremely important and fulfilling part of her life.