LAS CRUCES – Several dozen people, including city officials, family members and residents, were in Lions Park Friday afternoon to watch the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to the late former Las Cruces councilor Olga Pedroza.
The city-sponsored plaque commemorating Pedroza’s life and public service is now outside the park’s tennis courts near their southeast corner.
“Councilor Pedroza was keen to make Las Cruces and this country a better place,” reads the engraved bronze plaque. “As a professional attorney, she was a staunch advocate of equality and fought for the rights of the disenfranchised.”
The plaque mentions the former councilor’s efforts to help the homeless in Las Cruces, her volunteer work in serving meals to those in need, and her advocacy for immigration justice.
Pedroza, who represented District 3 in the council from 2009 to 2017, fought all her life for the rights of agricultural workers and fought against wage theft. She advocated improved tennis courts as she was “an avid tennis player” and community gardens during her time on the council.
She backed the Las Cruces minimum wage increase in 2014 but voted against the final ordinance as it delayed wage increases for two years.
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Pedroza left the council in 2017 and soon announced a diagnosis of bladder cancer. She died of cancer in early 2018 at the age of 75.
The location for the memorial was chosen because Pedroza held meetings with her constituents there and dropped her children off to play tennis while she worked.
Mayor Ken Miyagishima shared his memories of working with Pedroza at Las Cruces City Hall to the crowd and was stifled towards the end of his remarks.
“She would meet with voters who play tennis … It’s a great tribute,” said the mayor. “Olga, I know, look down and see this.”
Pedroza’s son, Joaquin Graham, spoke lovingly of his time playing tennis in Lions Park growing up in Las Cruces.
“My mom loved this city, she loved tennis and she loved this park,” he told the crowd. “(I have) many memories especially of this park.”
Pedroza graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law with a law degree in 1985. She then worked for the organization that was to become Southern New Mexico Legal Aid in Las Cruces in 1990.
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Alderman Gabe Vasquez has held the former seat of Pedroza since his election in November 2017. Earlier this year he announced that he would not seek a second term, which opens the race for the position. Vasquez didn’t attend the event on Friday, but the mayor said Vasquez wished he could have attended.
Michael McDevitt is the city and county government reporter for Sun News. He can be reached at 575-202-3205, [email protected] or @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter.
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