Christopher Cabaldon, nine-year mayor of West Sacramento, said Thursday he wants Sacramento State students to know they can make a difference in their community.

Before an audience of approximately 30 students at the College Democrats’ first meeting, Cabaldon said being active in local government can make a difference in communities, as he has observed in West Sacramento.

“I find that being in local government, no matter how mundane it sounds? is probably the most important tool for empowering people,” he said.

His desire to see change in West Sacramento inspired his running for mayor.

His interest in politics began at a young age when his mother forced him to transfer to a then newly-desegregated school, the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies.

Though he reluctantly left a school much closer to his home, it was his experience at the new school that taught him the value of having one’s voice heard, he said.

When he stepped off the school bus on his first day at the desegregated school, reporters were there to greet him, asking him questions about desegregation, taking pictures, and even wanting to follow him around to see who he talked to during lunch.

“It was powerful,” Cabaldon said. “People in the world wanted to know my opinion.” He found himself in the newspapers, on TV and participating in panels.

From there, his interest in politics flourished. Cabaldon is now a candidate for state assembly in District 8.

“I think it is time for a progressive with strong values to get back in the Legislature,” he said.

The mayor invited Democratic Party students to contact him via Facebook to get involved with his campaign.

Lacey Waymire can be reached at [email protected].