Elito Macapagal Santarina was elected into the Carson City Council on March 4, 2003, to serve a four-year term, was re-elected in March, 2007 to a second term, and again on March 8, 2011 to a third term. He has also served as Mayor Pro Tem in 2007, 2010, and most recently in 2013.

Long before being elected into public office, he has been an active member of the City family and the Carson community through his service on many of the City’s commissions and boards, and as a volunteer for various city projects. Santarina is a retired educator, whose teaching career spanned nearly four decades.

Santarina was born and raised in the Philippines where he obtained his Bachelors and Post Baccalaureate degrees in Education, Linguistics and School Administration. The colleges and universities that are responsible for his successful educational career are the College of the Immaculate Concepcion, St. Louis University, Philippine Normal College and the Ateneo De Manila University. He began his teaching career in 1967 and became a school principal from 1969 to 1973, before migrating to the United States in the early-70s. Santarina recently completed the Harvard Executive Education Program for local government officials from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University.

While working as a school teacher in Southern California, he pursued graduate studies in such interests as Administration, Educational leadership, and Advanced Studies on Teaching English as a Second language. In 1980, he completed his Master of Arts Degree in Special Education from the California State University, Dominguez Hills and immediately built a strong solid career as an educator in various schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, teaching middle and high school English, Bilingual Math and multicultural studies, and coordinating ESL program in adult education. He taught Spanish and History at the Andrew Carnegie Middle School in Carson and still serves on the LAUSD’s Professional Bilingual Competency Test Committee.

On June 28, 2005, he officially retired from LAUSD after completing his 30 years of service in the U.S. He is now doing a consulting and teaching job with Lynwood Unified School District where he works as a Resource Teacher/Substitute Teacher on call.

Santarina’s community involvement began in the late 1980s when he decided to use his achievements as a successful educator to help make a difference in the Carson community. Over the last 10 years, he has served on the City of Carson’s Planning, Parks and Recreation, Senior Citizens Advisory, Citywide Advisory commissions and briefly on the Economic Development Commission. He also served as co-chair of the City of Carson’s 30th anniversary celebrations, and assisted in the City’s summer youth jobs selection process. He has either held leadership positions or has been actively involved in many local organizations such as the Gardena-Carson YMCA, Carson Sister Cities Association, Kiwanis International, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Democratic Club. He was also given a rank of First Lieutenant in the Infantry of the American Volunteer Reserve.

As a councilmember (2003-2011) and Mayor Pro Tem (2007-2008; 2010-2011), Santarina has outstandingly completed the Leadership Training Institute Programs developed by the U.S. National League of Cities in the subject areas of Leadership, Diverse Community Relations, Creating Sustainable Communities, Performance Budgeting in Government Affairs, and Building Personal Cultural Competence.

He is a recipient of numerous recognitions as an outstanding educator and a community leader. These include the Mayor Tom Bradley Cultural Award, the California Department of Education Exceptional Leadership PTSA in Public Schools Awards, the LAUSD Asian Pacific Educators Commission Leadership Award, the Asian Pacific Islander Educators Association “Torch of Service” Award, the Lions Club International’s Outstanding Educator Award, the Kiwanis Club’s Outstanding Educator Award, and Outstanding Awards from the Community Interethnic Association, to name a few. Santarina has been married to Anita Cruz-Aves for 43 years. They have two daughters Ann Mairah and Ann Rea, and a son Francis Camilus, two sons-in-law Joseph and Glenn, and five grandchildren Neil Anthony, Frankie, Joseph Elijah, Chloe and Capri Pearl.

~ Last Update:  April 30, 2013  ~