The American Dream in Long Beach

Juan Ovalle’s story is a tale of the American Dream fully realized for him and his family right here in our western Long Beach community. The son of émigrés, who left Guatemala in order to breathe free in America, he immigrated with his parents and four brothers at the age of two. As immigrants, despite his father’s advanced technical training, his parents had to work hard to make ends meet. Nonetheless, they persevered, and all five kids went on to college and greater opportunity in life.

Juan graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a degree in political science/public administration, and went on to work for fifteen years at the Long Beach Water Dept. as an administrative analyst, before transitioning to work in finance at Lehman Brothers and eventually to his current career as, along with his wife, a full-time housing provider, owning and managing a portfolio of rental housing properties in the region.

“I still remember helping my mother clean houses in the neighborhoods of Long Beach and watching how hard my parents struggled. Through their hard work, and the opportunities provided by this country and this city, we were eventually able to live the lives we dreamt of.”

“But now the hard-won nest eggs of so many, like ourselves, are under threat from irresponsible budgeting, forcing us to pay some of the highest local taxes in America. And all the while, we lack sufficient public investment and services, from our parks to public safety, while failing to address our massive liabilities. This is the clear result of the negligence and neglect of unresponsive, callous officials, like the incumbent councilmember.”

“I made the decision to run for office not just to help protect those who have invested their life savings in Long Beach, but also to help improve the great inequality we see all around us. We must address public safety, housing affordability, homelessness, and lack of community investment, for us all to achieve the Long Beach we dream of. It’s time we had the energetic representation we truly deserve.”