Los Angeles County Republican Party — Republican PartyCandidate for County Central Committee, Assembly District 57

My name is Diego De Lama and I humbly ask for your vote in the upcoming election for the 57^th district.

I have been a La Mirada resident for the past ten years.  I came to this country in 1986 as an immigrant from Peru.  My father, Guillermo De Lama came here in 1984 and worked to have a small apartment ready for our family.  He started working at Baxter International in 1985 and a year later, my mother, Mercedes De Lama and my three brothers arrived.  The six of us lived in a two bedroom apartment for 3 years and eventually moved to a 3 bedroom house for another 2 years.  In 1993, my father was able to purchase a house in Norwalk and that was our home.  My parents lived in that home until 2014 when my dad retired from Baxter International and decided to move to Texas.   

I have three brothers and they are all happily married.  I am also happily married and have been for 14 years and have a beautiful daughter.   

Growing up, I went South Gate Middle School and eventually graduated from South Gate High School in 1994.  Though we had moved to Norwalk in 1993, I decided to finish high school in South Gate as I wanted to stay close to my friends. I would take the public bus to school and sometimes my mom would drive me. During high school, I maintained a high GPA (averaged 3.5) and played Jr. Varsity Basketball during my sophomore and junior years. I also took several AP courses and was fortunate enough to pass the AP Calculus exam.  As a senior, I was accepted to UC Berkley, UCLA, UC Riverside and UC Irvine. I also graduated High School with Honors.  I decided to go to UCLA and was able to go for one quarter.  Unfortunately, I was not able to afford to go due to my immigration status.  I was being charged non-resident fees and it became too expensive.  Nevertheless, I felt strongly about obtaining a college degree so I decided to go to El Camino College and eventually transfer to Cerritos College.  I obtained my AA in Cerritos with Honors and transferred to Cal State Long Beach.  At Long Beach State, I doubled majored in Information Systems and Finance.  During my college years is also when I began to work in banking.  I graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2001 .  I am the only member of my family with a college degree.  In 2006, I decided to pursue my Master’s Degree and I decided to go to BIOLA University in La Mirada.  I graduated with an MBA in 2008 with High Honors.  It is also in 2008 that I finally and proudly became a US Citizen.  

I went thru a few jobs in banking but have settled for Union Bank for the past 6 years. Union Bank is a great company that promotes growth from within and values employee opinion.  I have enjoyed my time there for many reasons one of which they promote volunteerism.  As an employee of Union Bank, I have volunteered to help at Ronald McDonald House, Southern California Junior Achievement, Habitat for Humanity, and several schools for financial literacy.  Being able to enjoy what I do and give back to the community has been very rewarding.  I have received numerous recognition awards for my production.  These awards are a result of hard work, dedication and most importantly, working with the highest level of integrity.   

I strongly believe in hard work and integrity.  Those two core values were taught to me by my father and my faith.  My parents taught me that hard work always pays off.  My mother always made sure I stayed out of trouble.  I applied these lessons in every area of my life.  

My wife went to school to pursue her dream career, which was to become a teacher.  She also obtained her Masters in Curriculum from Cal State Fullerton.  Thankfully, she has been a teacher at John Glenn High school for the past 10 years.  She teaches US History and is over the ACE (Academy for Careers and Education) Program.  Her dedication, integrity and hard work are attributes that made me instantly fall in love with her.  She has supported me thru every career and academic choice.   

I am running for the 57^th district committee because I want to help our Republican base grow.  I strongly believe in local government and I want to help those that dedicate their time, effort, energy, and money to fight for what they believe in.  Our party has been under attack and has been shrinking in California.  Our current committee has fought the hard fight but new energy is needed.  A new more diverse group is needed to help the Republican party grow in California.

I am a fiscal conservative that believes we should balance our budget.  We need to be responsible spenders.  Families in California have seen their cost of living go up every year.  Yet, they are required to balance their family budgets.  That means, for some, vacations are shorter, overtime hours are longer, and family time is shorter.  Meanwhile, while the Californian family is working very hard to make ends meet, we have a State Government that conitnues to increase taxes, increase regulation, abuse power and run deficits which affects our next generation.  This is completely unacceptable.  We have party that has almost complete control and has done so by demonizing anyone that opposes them.  This has to stop.

I know there are plenty of citizens that are fiscally conservative and expect their government to do the same.  I know more that are socially conservative as well.  They work hard every day to provide for their families and loved ones.  We need to encourage them to run for office and run campaigns that are ethical, and spread the message that accountability must be demanded.  We need to grow locally before we can grow nationally.  We must let everyone know that our conservative values are the ones that will help our next generation succeed.

The 57th District Republican Central Committee board is the best way to start and I encourage you to support me.  Our current board has worked very hard and has been very dedicated.  It is time we have some fresh individuals to come offer new ideas, make better use of technology and work with individuals to encourage them to be civic servants.