Former two-term San Bernardino Mayor Judith Valles has scored many firsts in her long and distinguished career in education and politics. Valles was the first Latina to serve as a dean and then vice-president of San Bernardino Valley College. She then became the first Latino women to head any college or university in California, when she became President of Golden West College in Huntington Beach. And, Valles was the first Latina to serve as mayor of a big city in California. Now retired but still active in the community, Valles credits part of her professional success to small pearls of wisdom her Mexican immigrant mother used to instill in her. Valles has written a book about the life lessons she learned from her mother, titled, "Como Decia Mi Mama: As My Mother Would Say." KVCR's Natalya Estrada hosted a sit-down interview with Judith Valles in the KVCR studios.
Judith Valles will appear and read from her new book at San Bernardino's Feldheym Central Library on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 2:00p.m. It's free, and the public is welcome.