Benny Diaz joins the Orange Juice blog team!

Please welcome our newest blogger, community activist Benny Diaz! I have known Diaz for years and recently wrote about him when he ran for the 1st Supervisorial District. Diaz has also run for the Garden Grove City Council, and he is a Planning Commissioner in that city.

I wrote an extensive article about Diaz during his Supervisorial campaign – you can read it at this link. Here is an excerpt:

He arrived in Orange County in 1980 – after leaving his country of birth – Peru. His first job was at a McDonald’s restaurant. He worked nights cleaning offices and medical facilities – which is exactly what I did while helping my father as a youngster.

Diaz also worked at Disneyland at night – and he went to school, first to learn English. Later he graduated from Fullerton Junior College. While at that campus he was elected to the student government – whetting his growing appetite for politics. In 1983 he completed a degree in political science. In 1986 he graduated from UCI with a BA in political science and economics.

Diaz later earned a real estate license. He also got a job with the Marriott Corporation – and he found his calling in Human Resources.

In 1987 Diaz became a U.S. citizen. A few years later, in 1992, he got a job with the California Employment Development Department. Later he moved over to the California Department of Industrial Relations and became a research analyst. He is still there, working as a compliance officer in the worker’s compensation industry.

Diaz remains very involved in the community. He is a mentor to young people and an active member of the University of California Alumni Association. He is also one of the founders of the UCI Chicano Alumni. Diaz is also a longtime member of LULAC – the League of United Latin American Citizens.

I think Diaz will become one of our top contributors and I am very excited that he is joining us. Welcome aboard Benny!


About Admin

"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.