By Ana Gomez Salcido
As a first generation American, Gil Cabrera knows first-hand the incredible opportunities that his immigrant parents and family enjoyed having immigrated to the United States, and that continues to motivate him to give back to the community.
The son of Cuban parents, Cabrera, 43, was born in Queens, New York and grew up in Huntington Beach, California, but it was here in San Diego that he started his family and developed his career as a lawyer.
“The thing I always heard while growing up was how lucky we were to be here and how amazing it was that someone could immigrate here with nothing and build up a good life for yourself and your family,” Cabrera said in an exclusive interview at La Prensa San Diego’s offices this week. “So my parents always told me to never forget what this country gave us and to always give back when I could.”
Now a successful lawyer, Cabrera was the first one in his family to graduate from college and he attributes that to the motivation of his parents.
“My mom started at a university in Cuba, but the revolution happened and they closed the colleges, so she wasn’t able to finish,” Cabrera said. “My parents didn’t know much about how to go to college here, or which were better or worse, but they always told me that I needed to go to college because my education would be the thing that no one could ever take away,” he recalls his parents saying.
One of the things that helped Cabrera get on track to college was a program offered by California State University, Fullerton, for first generation college students that included classes about what to expect at college and workshops for reading and comprehension, as well as mathematics.
“That was a very helpful program because it gave me an idea as to what to expect, and that really put me in a position to succeed in college,” he added.
After graduating from CSU Fullerton with a BA in Political Science, Cabrera went on to study at Boston Law School. During his final year in law school, Cabrera worked a summer internship in San Diego and fell in love with the region. After graduating, Cabrera was offered a job at a one of San Diego’s most prestigious law firms and decided to settle down here.
While working as a lawyer, Cabrera attended a public forum about police use of force. Cabrera recalls talking with one of the panelists, Chief of Police David Bejarano, and Bejarano asked if he wanted to be part of a citizens’ committee reviewing the use of force by the police.
“We basically went through the police academy and police logs and did a thorough review of how the police handled and trained officers,” Cabrera recalls. “We made over a hundred recommendations for changes to their procedures, including the use of non-lethal options and training in deescalating a situation”, he said.
Cabrera went on to serve on the San Diego Ethics Commission from 2005 to 2010, were he served as Chairman for two years.
“On the Ethics Commission, we enforced the City’s campaign finance, ethics, and lobbying laws, and made recommendations to the City Council to changes those laws” Cabrera said. “We reformed the lobbying laws while I was Chairman to make sure that we increased transparency in the fundraising that lobbyists do, and then we also vigorously enforced our campaign finance and ethics laws in the City”, he added.
Cabrera explained that the Ethics Commission imposed fines on politicians that violated campaign finance laws, including those that accepted illegal contributions. Cabrera says as Chairman of the Ethics Commission, he helped change the laws to require full disclosure of campaign money raised for candidates for San Diego public office positions and touts those changes as one of his biggest accomplishments while on the Commission.
“There is a lot of money in politics unfortunately, and I think it is important to make sure that candidates and politicians know that there is somebody watching what are they doing, when they are raising money and making decisions for the City,” Cabrera added. ”It’s one of those situations where it’s better to have a watchdog keeping an eye on things,” he said.
After his time on the Ethics Commission, Cabrera was appointed in 2014 to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation board by the City Council, and today serves as the Secretary of the Board and also as Chairman of its Budget Committee.
“The San Diego Convention Center is a very important part of San Diego’s economy and it was and still is in the mist of important discussions about its expansion,” Cabrera said. “But it also has many challenges, including expensive maintenance because it’s over 25 years old, so I like that work because it’s a challenge and also because of its importance to the local economy,” he added.
Cabrera manages to balance his professional work as a lawyer, his work on several non-profit boards, his family time, and now, his campaign work as a candidate running for San Diego City Attorney.
“It’s a combination of wanting to help and serve my city and enjoying being an attorney, which I think is what I was meant to do,” Cabrera said. “Serving as City Attorney would give me the opportunity to represent all the people of San Diego,” he said.
Nearly every decision made in the City of San Diego involves the City Attorney, Cabrera added, and that’s why it’s important for the Mayor and Council to receive good legal advice.
“Being the best attorney I can be for the City will help us move forward in a way that’s both legally and fiscally prudent”, he concluded. “I’m ready to do my part to help move San Diego forward.”
The election for City Attorney will appear on the ballot on June 7th, and if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the two candidates with the most votes will continue to the General Election on November 8th.