Beto Wins- Humberto Gurmilan, a journalism professor at Southwestern College and former sports anchor on Telemundo, was elected into the San Ysidro School Board on Novemeber 6.
Southwestern College instructor Humberto “Beto” Gurmilan won a seat on the San Ysidro School Board. The former Telemundo sports anchor and foundation director will be sworn in Dec. 13 at San Ysidro Middle School, along with Irene Lopez and Rudy Lopez.
Gurmilan officially announced his candidacy for school board in early August. He said his motivation for running was to better the district.
“I know the district has a lot of great students, a lot of great features,” Gurmilan said. “I know there’s been a lot of issues in the past but I think that I can help. That’s the main reason. I just want to help my community become better.”
Gurmilan grew up in Tijuana and was never a student in the district, but he visited his grandparents in San Ysidro often as a child. With some family members as teachers and friends with children enrolled in the schools, Gurmilan said he is familiar with the best and worst parts of the district.
“I understand really well some of the struggles that the community in San Ysidro can go through, but I also understand how great it can be,” he said. “I think I can provide a little bit of leadership, a little bit of experience to the board and help the district thrive with success.”
Gurmilan said it took him months to decide if he was able, ready, and qualified to be a candidate. Gurmilan is confident he can be an effective board member while maintaining his full-time job as an instructor.
“Sometimes people don’t take their job seriously, Gurmilan said. Everything I do is a hundred percent, so I wouldn’t have committed to running for office if that weren’t something that I would like to do at a hundred percent.”
Alex Montoya, chairman of the Gurmilan Foundation board of directors and intimate friend of Gurmilan, supports his friend’s decision
“I have complete confidence Beto will successfully do this because he already handles and balances our foundation, teaching, being an author and running a small business. He is remarkable and he will do remarkable things,” Montoya said.
All three elected candidates were endorsed by San Ysidro teachers. Gurmilan promises to provide an inclusive educational space for students and their families.
“A lot of families in San Ysidro are the type of family where they’re moving from one country from another with different languages. I know the challenges that the border region presents for families and I understand them,” Gurmilan said. “We can take care of those students and show them how they are supposed to be taken care of with good education.”
