Leslie Cornejo, Vice-Mayor

Council Term Expires: December, 2024
Email: lcornejo@spcity.org

Biography

Councilmember Leslie Cornejo was elected in 2020 and is serving her first term on the City Council. She was elected to serve as Vice Mayor for 2023.

Business

Cornejo has owned and operated Santa Paula Travel Service, a full service, retail travel agency on Main Street since 1988.  She was a founding director of Santa Clara Valley Bank, and served as Chairman of the Board through the merger with Bank of the Sierra.

Education

BA in Spanish/ESL Bilingual Education from UC Irvine. Being fluent in Spanish allows her to communicate with and serve the entire community.  She has also studied in Costa Rica and Mexico.

Community Service

Leslie has been a director of the Ventura County Fairgrounds since 2008, serving as board president for 5 of those years.  She was active in Soroptimist Int’l. of Santa Paula for 15 years, 1^st Vice President of the Santa Paula Police and Fire Foundation and co-chaired the Moonlight at the Ranch event for three years, which netted about $40,000 a year for the foundation.  

Priorities

Cornejo brings business acumen and corporate governance experience to the city council, and hopes to assist an already excellent city organization to improve services to Santa Paula residents.  She strongly supports public safety agencies and wishes to improve their ability to keep the community safe.  Her focus is on improving the business environment and grow the tax base in order to achieve these goals and improve the quality of life for Santa Paulans.

Personal

Leslie and husband Enrique, an immigrant from Chile have three sons and five grandchildren, all of who live along the Central Coast.  She has traveled to over 60 countries and loves organizing and hosting groups to new destinations.