SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A newly elected councilmember in a small rural community north of Sacramento made history by becoming the first Latina to represent the town of Gridley, which is 45% Hispanic.

Councilwoman Catalina Sanchez was born and raised in the small town and says she always dreamed of representing her community at the California State Capitol.

“As someone who’s Latina, from a rural, low-income community, you often feel like places like that are so far away,” she said.

While Gridley is only an hour drive away from Sacramento, Sanchez says it felt far-fetched to work in politics because she saw so little Latina representation in the political arena. However, in 2016 her dream career came true when she landed a job as a legislative aide to a state senator.

“I truly wanted to build my career in the state Capitol, in public service, in whatever capacity that could’ve been,” Sanchez added.

In 2017, her dream was shattered when she was fired from her job. According to Sanchez, she was let go after she reported being raped by another Capitol employee after going out for drinks one night. Sanchez was told she was being fired due to tardiness and poor writing skills.

“In that moment when I was terminated, it did feel like everything had completely shut down. You had this wall that went up and for that first year afterward it was a really difficult experience for me in trying to seek out employment,” Sanchez explained.

She filed a report with the police, but a couple months later she was told her case was dismissed. The Sacramento Police Department said in a statement the case was suspended because Sanchez did not want to seek prosecution.

Sanchez claims this is false and says she continues to fight for justice after police and the Assembly dismissed her claims. 

In 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported the state Senate paid $350,000 to settle her workplace discrimination lawsuit.

“In the end you have to continue to fight for yourself, fight for your ability to earn a living and also to earn a living in something you love,” Sanchez said.

After being fired from the Capitol, Sanchez was eventually hired as a lobbying and legislative manager for a government relations firm. 

In late 2020, she was elected as the first Latina to represent the community where she was raised. Sanchez was inspired to run after she saw the prior city council make several decisions she thought were not reflective of her community. 

As a new councilmember, she plans to bring her experience working in the state legislature to the position. She hopes as a first Latina on the council, more Latinos in her community will feel comfortable taking a stance on local and political issues in Gridley. 

“I think it’s extremely important and valuable that we have representation at the table, not only in my case as a woman, but as a Latina especially and also as a young person,” Sanchez added.

The 35-year-old wants to encourage more Latinos to get involved in local government and build better political transparency in Gridley. She also hopes to use her new role on the city council to increase workforce development and help small business owners through this pandemic.

As for her past, Sanchez says she’s still healing, but plans to continue sharing her story so she can help other women heal and share their truths.