Councilmember Raul Mendoza
Summary:
Raul Mendoza was elected to the Yuma City Council in the November 2007.
Published On:
11/26/2007Last Updated:
1/25/2010
Councilmember Raul Mendoza was elected to the Yuma City Council in the November 2007 General Election, his four-year term runs through December 2011.
Councilmember Mendoza has been a resident of the City of Yuma since 1971. He attended Kofa High School, Arizona Western College, and the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Councilmember Mendoza graduated from the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville.
Councilmember Raul Mendoza retired from the City of Yuma Police Department after a 23-year career. While at the police department, Councilmember Mendoza worked as a patrolman, narcotics officer in an undercover capacity, training officer, major fraud detective, bicycle patrol and community policing sergeant, and as the department’s first professional standards and internal affairs supervisor. Additional duties while at the police department were that of a physical fitness coordinator and as the department’s hostage-crisis negotiations team supervisor.
Councilmember Mendoza was also the physical fitness instructor/coordinator for the Arizona Western College Police Training Academy for the last ten years before he retired from YPD.
After his retirement from the police department, Councilmember Raul Mendoza still wanted to have an active voice in improving the quality of life within the City of Yuma and wanted to be involved in reducing the neglect and abuse of Yuma’s children – he joined the Foster Care Review Board as a volunteer board member.
Councilmember Mendoza is past board president of the Yuma Cultural Council. A member and past president of the United Way of Yuma County and a member of the Carver Park Weed and Seed Steering Committee. He is a Commissioned Kentucky Colonel, a member of the Southern Police Institute Alumni Association, and the National Rifle Association.
Councilmember Raul Mendoza’s many hobbies when not working or volunteering in the community consist of running (runs at least one marathon a year), hiking, bicycling, strength training, spending time with his family on outdoor activities, and an occasional trip to a ballpark.
Councilmember Mendoza is married to Sheila, a teacher in the Crane School District. They have three daughters, Dennise, Amanda and Krystina and two grand-daughters, Bianca and Brielle.
