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But the McFarland mayor’s experiences drive him to work hard for his city so he can bring jobs and businesses to the area.

Melendez, who spent 28 years in the military in active and reserve, currently works as a supervisor for The Gas Company at the Oildale office.

Melendez stays busy with McFarland’s community activities, but took a little time to share more about himself with Más readers:

Q: Tell us about your family history.

A: I was born in Arizona. My dad was a farm laborer and he followed all the crops. He went up and down California. There are nine of us in our family. The oldest three were born in New Mexico. Two were born in Mexico. The remaining four were born in Arizona. All of us ended up in McFarland. I have been in McFarland since I was about 4 years old.

Wherever there was farm work, that’s where we went. My father ended up staying in McFarland because it was the best place to work consistently. There is plenty of work here, year-round. Even though it was seasonal work, it sure beat all that traveling. My parents pushed education. My mother is from Aguascalientes, Mexico, and my father is from Guanajuato.

Q. Did you grow up speaking English or Spanish?

A: I grew up speaking both languages. My mother attended English classes and learned English. We spoke to her in English at times, but Spanish was preferred. I speak English more, but as mayor, I find myself communicating in Spanish with the community so my Spanish is used more now.

Q:  What are some of your community activities?

A: I’d volunteer for sports like baseball and football junior leagues. I was also a member of the McFarland Unified School District board. As mayor, I’m involved with LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission) and KernCOG (Kern Council of Governments). At some point, I was also part of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the air quality board in Kern County.

Q: What do you like about serving as the mayor of McFarland?

A: I like giving back. It doesn’t pay a whole lot of money (serving as the mayor), so it’s not about the money. It’s a privilege to serve the community and it’s a privilege (that they) see you as their city’s leader.

My goal is to ensure that there are more job opportunities and more people are getting involved. I want to establish a tax base and an industrial park. I would also like to bring in more commercial businesses where people can stay and shop in McFarland.

Q: How does your cultural background or ethnicity play a role in your community involvement?

A: I’m of Mexican descent and it plays a major role because the majority of people who live in McFarland are Hispanic. They can relate to me and I relate to them.

I don’t forget what troubles my mother and father went through to sustain a better life, and that’s why I want to bring commercial and industries here. The residents need jobs where they don’t have to worry about traveling. Hopefully, I can also get a child-care center here.

Q: What part of your culture drives you to the issues that you fight for as the mayor?

A: My military experience and, of course, my mother and father’s experiences. You find that a lot is about struggling, but nothing is impossible.

If you work hard and you move forward, everything will come to be. At the end, people will realize that all you were trying to do was the right thing for the community.

Being a Hispanic plays a role because I understand what the needs are. Being in the military plays a role because there are a lot of obstacles to deal with.

Q: Do you have a Latino/Latina role model?

A: There are lot of Latinos and Latinas who inspire me, but today my inspiration would be religious leaders. I’m inspired by anybody who reads the Bible and translates the Bible correctly. That’s the way to travel. You just try to have a good life.

Q: Best advice to give to our younger Latino generation?

A: You should never give up. Always try to do your best.

There is this story about two frogs stuck in this cream. One frog got tired, and he ended up drowning and going down below the cream. The other frog, which was the optimist, believed he should do whatever he could do, and all he could do was peddle. He kept peddling and peddling and the cream started turning into butter and he was able to step out on top.

Don’t let anybody put you down because people don’t know your capabilities. They don’t know what your goals are, what your thoughts are. All they can see is that you are upset and struggling and they can only share experiences of their own.

Only you know what you can do and can’t do. Be persistent.

Keep moving forward, and everything will turn out good.