GETTING TO KNOW PAOLA ÁVILA

For Paola Ávila, a return to San Diego City Hall to join Mayor-elect Todd Gloria as his chief of staff is bringing her career full circle.

She’ll be returning 20 years after joining then-incoming Republican Mayor Dick Murphy as his deputy chief of staff. Since those days, she’s worked as a political consultant, at the state level in communications for Democratic state Sen. Ben Hueso, and, mostly recently, as vice president of international business affairs for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. She joined the Name Drop San Diego podcast to talk about lessons learned since then, what inspires her to do public service and more. Read excerpts here or listen to the full episode in your favorite listening app.

On taking the job:

[The Murphy administration] did a lot of good things, but it was also a very tumultuous time. It kind of soured me in so many ways. I swore I’d never go back to City Hall. I went into private practice after that. I started my own business and then worked in the state Legislature and of course the [San Diego Regional] Chamber of Commerce. What brings me back is Todd Gloria. That was the only way anybody could convince me to go back. It brings an opportunity to really do something meaningful and historic for San Diego. I’m really excited about his

vision, what he’ll bring to the city, and it’s exciting to be a part of that.

On her inspiration for public ser vice:

One is my father’s brother, who passed away at a very young age, unexpectedly, nine months before I was born. I feel, certainly, very close to him because, I never met him, but … I feel a connection to him. His path was very much of public service. He wrote many documents and I’ve read them to get to know the person that he was and the bright future that he had. He had so many aspirations and things he wanted to change in his community and also in his country. I do feel this strong connection in that, he died at a very young age, and I have a life here to carry out — it both weighs heavily on my shoulders, but also I feel like I can do a lot of the work that he wanted to do. I have the opportunity and kind of obligation. So that’s always guided me . ... The second is my two daughters. I was a single mom at a very young age and it was my eldest and I who kind of had to figure things out. She was my guiding light, still is. Then I had a second daughter five years after that. Sometimes it was just the three of us. We called ourselves “the Ávila girls.” We had to just figure it out. They are such strong young ladies. They surprise me, their resiliency and their maturity. Since I was very young — I always felt like, I just need to do a good job as a mother and raise contributing members of society. Now, I feel like they’re the ones teaching me . ... I certainly want to set a good example of female empowerment. You don’t have to choose between family and a career . ... Do what’s in your heart and do it with passion and it will be rewarding and you’ll succeed because your heart is in it.

On being a college athlete:

I ran track and cross country at UC San Diego. I’m still an avid runner. Part of that is because I don’t have good eye-hand coordination. My husband constantly teases me that running is not a real sport. It is. Let me tell you, it’s a real sport . ... For me, running is more about like meditating. It helps me work through problems and helps to stimulate my brain.