Lori Saldaña
Lori Saldaña is a lifelong San Diegan. She graduated from San Diego State University with degrees in education, and has held a variety of volunteer, appointed, and elected positions with a focus on environmental protection, resource protection, and sustainability. Lori served as a Mayoral and Presidential appointee, working on water quality issues and infrastructure development. From 1999-2003 she was President Clinton’s appointee on the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission (BECC), which has invested billions in water, air quality, and transportation infrastructure along the US-Mexico border. She taught at the University of California San Diego and was a Research Fellow in Environmental Policy at the UCSD Center for US-Mexico Studies. Her research article- “From Litigation to Legislation: Challenges to Binational Water Infrastructure Development in the San Diego-Tijuana Border Region” - was accepted for publication in the 2003 Journal of Environment and Development. In 2004 she was elected to the California Assembly and served as Speaker pro Tempore and served as a member of Elections and Redistricting, Rules, Veterans Affairs, Judiciary, and the Water, Parks & Wildlife Committees. She was appointed to the Assembly Ethics Committee, to investigate complaints within the legislature. Lori retired from teaching in 2020 and continues to volunteer in community activities and maintain a garden to support native wildlife.