CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Sal Ramirez has won appointment as Carmichael’s Honorary Mayor for 2022. Raising nearly $11,500 over four months, the 33-year-old communications officer for non-profit TK Momentum beat pie shop proprietor Diana Shockley to the post.

The funds will be shared equally between the Carmichael Chamber of Commerce and Ramirez’s chosen charity, the Adopt an Elder Foundation. This Sacramento-based organization helps low-income seniors with living expenses.

When the election result was announced at a Chamber luncheon last week, Ramirez handed a check for $5734 to Adopt an Elder board member Matthew Crooks. An elated Crooks estimated the donation would assist ten seniors for a year.

Noted Ramirez: “Our Mexican tradition is to honor elderly folk. I love to see that continued in society. Carmichael has many senior homes and it’s important for me to be a resource for families who are making choices concerning their beloved elders.”

His campaign included fundraising events that ranged from formal to slapstick. A wine-pull at River City Brewery sent 30 donors home with top-brand bottles. A pie-in-the-candidate’s-face opportunity followed at Sunrise of Carmichael senior home. “Twenty people hit me with pies and we raised $750,” reports Ramirez. “ I wore a plastic cape and goggles. Sticky filling ended up inside my ears, nostrils"'everywhere. Everyone who donated got a whole pie to take home. Like my opponent Diana Shockley, I love pie. But it’ll be a long time before I want chocolate or banana cream again.”

Ramirez’s election breaks a long tradition for female mayors in Carmichael. Since Esteban Nava took the honorary post for 2011/12, ladies have worn the mayoral trousers. Congratulating Ramirez, out-going Mayor Izzy DeLancey explained that the pandemic nixed many ribbon cuttings, community galas and two successive July 4 parades. The realtor nevertheless used her two-year reign to highlight community needs. She spearheaded drives for the San Juan Food Closet"'a resource that sustains low-income school district families. “I made the position work by making it all about the community,” DeLancey told Chamber members. “Plenty of people were not doing well. What better time to give back?”

Her sentiments were echoed by successor Ramirez. “My campaign was split in two directions,” he explained. “I know many seniors in this area experience hardship. After weathering the pandemic, the Chamber also needed help. At the end of the day, my efforts all go back to the community, and I will continue that mission as mayor in 2022. Izzy had her disappointments, but I’m determined to help make up for that. We’ve decided to ride in the next parade together. We’ll make July 4 a two-mayor affair.”

Diana Shockely’s campaign benefited the Carmichael Parks Foundation and the Chamber by $1648 each. Learn about Carmichael Chamber of Commerce at www.carmichaelchamber.com