City of Woodland City Council Councilmember Victoria Fernandez

When Victoria “Vicky” Fernandez took her seat on the Woodland City Council in December 2020, she was not the first member of her family to serve. Her son, Enrique Fernandez, won the District 4 seat in 2016—the first time that a Latino majority was elected to the five-member council. After his term ended, VIctoria Fernandez ran for, and won, the same seat.

A lifelong resident whose parents came to Woodland in the 1940s, Fernandez raised four children in town and also worked as an educator. She was a bilingual first-grade teacher at Maxwell Elementary School and a kindergarten teacher at Gibson Elementary School before retiring in 2018. Since then she has continued to work, first as a substitute teacher and then as a bilingual case worker for California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation.

First elected: November 2020.

Alma mater: California State University, Sacramento (bachelor’s degree in liberal studies)

Board and committee appointments: Yolo Solano Air Quality Management District, Water Resources Association/Yolo Sub-Basin Groundwater Agency, Yolo County Natural Communities Conservation, Yolo County 2x2, Collaborative for Woodland Youth, Chamber of Commerce 2x2, Library 2x2, Woodland Public Safety Subcommittee.

Notable quote: “I am grateful to my parents, who provided an example of hard work, respect and compassion for others. With limited education they fought for social justice to provide academic and economic opportunities within our community. I am the product of a loving, supportive family that is dedicated to public service.”