Ricky Estrada returned to the dais to resume his duties as Menifee Mayor Wednesday night after a seven-month absence for military deployment.
City officials sponsored a welcome reception for Estrada an hour before the 6 p.m. City Council meeting. Residents spoke about their appreciation for Estrada’s city service before his deployment and thanked him for his service with the U.S. Air Force. Estrada is a reservist stationed at March Air Reserve Base.
Both during the reception and the council meeting, Estrada thanked residents for their support during his deployment. He acknowledged that many of them reached out to him virtually during that time.
“Thank you for taking a personal moment out of your day to be here,” Estrada said. “It means a lot. And thanks to all who reached out to me and prayed for me. Support like that helps keep the military motivated.
“I’m looking forward to the future of Menifee. We’re still a relatively new city and we have an opportunity to mold the city into what we want it to be. I’m proud to be a neighbor of all of you.”
Estrada became only the fourth mayor of a U.S. city ever to be deployed while in office. That includes Pete Buttigieg, who was mayor of South Bend, Indiana and was serving as a Navy reservist when he was deployed to Afghanistan for seven months in 2014. He went on to serve as U.S. Secretary of Transportation from 2021-25.
Residents also thanked Mayor Pro Tem Bob Karwin for the job he did in filling in as mayor during Estrada’s absence.
