RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Carmen Yulin Soto, the Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), has been selected as the Grand Marshall of the first United Puerto Rican People's Parade in Paseo Boricua on Division Street;
WHEREAS, born on February 25,1963 to Carmen Irene Soto Lomina and Pedro Cruz, Carmen Yulfn Soto received her Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Boston University, graduating Magna Cum Laude and completed her Master's Degree from the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she became the first student to receive the Spirit Award, now called the Barbara Jenkins Award;
WHEREAS, in 1992 Carmen Yulin Soto returned to Puerto Rico and became an adviser to then-Mayor of San Juan, Sila Maria Calderon, the 2nd woman to occupy
that position;
WHEREAS, in 2008, Carmen Yulfn Soto was elected to the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico and became an advocate for women's rights and for the rights of Dominican immigrants in Puerto Rico;
WHEREAS, in the election of 2012, Carmen Yulin Soto was elected the Mayor of San Juan becoming the 3rd women to occupy the Mayor's seat after Felisa Rincen de
Gautier and Sila Calderon;
WHEREAS, Carmen Yulin Soto's deep commitment to inclusiveness and diversity is best expressed in her campaign slogan Un San Juan Para Todos;
WHEREAS, in 1958, Mayor Richard J. Daley welcomed Felisa Rincen de Gatuier, the first woman Mayor of San Juan during the Puerto Rican Community's celebration of El Dia de San Juan;
WHEREAS, said celebration has been continued in Chicago in the annual Puerto Rican Day Parades;
WHEREAS, this year, Chicago's Puerto Rican community has come together to celebrate the first United Puerto Rican People's Parade in the heart of that community, Paseo Boricua, along Division Street;
WHEREAS, Carmen Yulin Soto has been selected as the Grand Marshall of that Parade; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members ofthe Chicago City Council, assembled this fifth day of June, 2013, join the Puerto Rican Community in this celebration to be held on June 15th, 2013 and do hereby honor Mayor Carmen Yulin Soto as the Grand Marshall of Chicago's United Puerto Rican People's Parade; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Mayor Carmen Yulin Soto.