One of the first acts of the new incoming interim mayor of San Diego, Todd Gloria was to name City Commissioner Nicole Murray Ramirez as “Mayor of Hillcrest.” This official announcement at the 38th Nicky Awards, held at the Marriott Hotel, drew a standing ovation from the big crowd that included District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis (R), State Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins (D), County Supervisor Ron Roberts (R), School Board Vice President Kevin Beiser (D), Police Chief Bill Lansdowne, Sheriff William Gore, Superior Court Judge Ken Gosselin, former state Assembly Member Nathan Fletcher (D) and Anthony Portantino (D) among many other political leaders and business people.
Only four months earlier outgoing Mayor Bob Filner had named Ramirez a “City Commissioner for Life.” Nicole Murray Ramirez has been an influential political and social justice activist for more than 45 years having served the last six mayors of San Diego. He is a past state president of Equality California and served on the national boards of directors of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (N.G.L.T.F.) and the Human Rights Campaign (H.R.C.). Ramirez is the only gay activist to have served on the national boards of all the last five National March’s on Washington (elected co-chair of two) and was a national co-chair of “Stonewall 25” in New York.
Commissioner Ramirez was appointed to the Regional Task Force on AIDS by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and was honored for his AIDS activism at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. He was elected chair of the first GLBT Advisory Boards to both the mayor and police chief of San Diego. He currently is the chair of the International Imperial Court Council which has chapters in more than 68 cities within the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico. For his decades of Latino activism he has been honored with the Cesar Chavez Social Justice Award presented by his widow Helen Chavez and a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Latino Unity Coalition.
Commissioner Ramirez serves on the National Board of the Harvey Milk Foundation and is the national chair of the Harvey Milk U.S. Stamp and U.S.S. Milk Navy Vessel naming campaigns. Nicole Murray Ramirez has received countless national, state, and local government awards and honors including being named an “Honorary Texan” by the late Gov. Ann Richards and receiving the “Key to the City” of San Diego, Portland and West Hollywood.
In all actuality Nicole M. Ramirez is not only the “Mayor of Hillcrest” but also the Mayor of “La Villita, Texas” by appointment of Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio, Texas.
When Commissioner Ramirez was asked what he was going to do with this new title and position he responded: “Raise money for charity, promote Hillcrest and its wonderful diversity and have fun.”
