Letters to the Editor

On the passing of Jesse Marquez

In Deep Appreciation

Paying our respects & prayers for Brother +Jesse+ we will always, always, always remember his Smile, Love for Mother Earth and dedication to his family! Our hearts are heavy, our thoughts/prayers are even heavier…Jesse was and is one-of-a-kind man who gave everything to the World….I send my condolences to Alex & all the Marquez familia & friends that knew Jesse… He’s looking over us now! Let us continue in his footsteps protecting & fighting for EJ/Environmental Justice for our children & grandchildren & families….

Ps. We’ve known +Jesse+ for almost 30 years, we started at St. Philomena Social Justice Committee, then CFASE, he went to POLA/POLB, AQMD,CARB, many Cities Council meetings. All over the South Bay region, MHF/Torrance and Schools/Churches/Parks, LA County Board of Supervisors/ LA City Town Halls/San Diego/San Bernardino/ Sacramento/Washington DC/NASA/Atlanta/ and Jesse went to other countries, Russia/China/Japan/South America & beyond!! Only, Wilmington was his heart & soul of his beautiful life, always advocating for the community, winning lawsuits for the kids, fighting the good fight so all of us could breathe fresh air/live a better life! Jesse Marquez our Founder of CFASE/Aztec warrior winning EJ/SJ/RJ/battles/teacher/archeologist/father grandfather and great grandfather always sharing the WORD! We love you Brother.

Lastly, to all my friends, Social media/newsprint/radio.TV/ publishers’/editors/columnist/remember look up once in a while to the stars/sky/clouds and say Hi…. to a true Humanitarian/giver/shaker/provider of real NEWS for all of us to ponder on “WHAT IF” ….Viva Jesse… Viva Jesus Cristo…Amen+++ ymas…Qvo….rp 

Ricardo Pulido

Wilmington

Dear Editor

Jesse Marquez was the real thing; a fighter, a man from and for the community. He saw a wrong being done to his neighbors by powerful interests and devoted his life to righting those wrongs.. 

He fought on behalf of his neighbors in the frontline communities, taking on the Port of LA as well as the refineries, and other polluters. He persisted against great odds, and did it with good humor, generosity and the kind of knowledge that only comes from years of experience. 

He told truth to power. In the Port of LA, he fought a public organization that twists the truth and is resistant to community. Regardless, he persisted. He was generous to folks like me who came to the fight later than he did. All he cared about was that you had an interest in righting the wrong and, if you stuck around, he embraced you as a brother.

Jesse made himself an expert, building a community organization that grew as it persisted against injustice. 

His analyses of EIRs always impressed me. Jesse found issues, flaws, twisted statistics and needed mitigations in EIRs that others missed. He did that over and over.

I was repeatedly impressed at how he dealt with the Port of LA’s frequent contention that clean, electric tractors were simply not available at scale on the market, and were too expensive. Jesse did what he did best, he went to work. He developed a list of companies that made and sold EV tractors in the US, and he refreshed that list to keep it current. The list made it obvious that with subsidies, the Port could replace diesel tractors with electric tractors. 

Jesse was a force. He is missed. May his memory be a blessing. Rest in power.

Peter M. Warren

San Pedro & Peninsula Homeowners Coalition

A sad day for the port communities.  Jesse was an independent mind, a man of conscience, a giant in his impact–unintimidated by “the powers that be.”  His presence will be missed.

Allen Franz, San Pedro