Fort Myers voters elected the first Latina to the city council. Diana Giraldo will replace Ward 2's Councilman Johnny Streets, who is retiring after 17 years of service.
"I feel the love of my community and the people that supported me, and I very much appreciate that," said Giraldo.
Diana Giraldo still can't believe that all the hard work campaigning for Ward 2 has paid off, beating Jacquelyn McMiller by 514 votes.
She is replacing Councilman Johnny Streets who is set to retire this month.
"There is no way that I can fill his shoes maybe in 17 years," Giraldo added.
She now is starting her own legacy being the first Latina in Fort Myers history to be on the City Council.
"There's a high expectation, as being the first female Latina. So I look forward to being able to meet those expectations, but I can tell you one thing: a city council person is just one person. The entire community needs to stand behind so we can together our champion and overcome the challenges and the needs of our community," she said.
Giraldo told NBC2 that she already has a long list of ideas to work on in Ward 2. Ideas like bicycle and pedestrian safety, addressing lighting on streets, and ongoing topics like housing.
"I think the first part of it is how we're going to organize communication, reaching out to the community. Ward 2 is so big, and I think that targeting neighborhoods and leaders of each of the neighborhoods so we can find cohesiveness the issues, the solutions, and extend the lines of communication a little bit more," said Giraldo.
Diana Giraldo will be sworn in as the new city of Fort Myers Councilmember for Ward 2, at the November 18th City Council meeting.