El Monte City Councilman Martin Herrera is facing calls to resign after court records surfaced showing he drove drunk multiple times between 2001 and 2010 and was arrested on at least one occasion in connection with a sex offense during that same stretch in Texas. Mayor Jessica Ancona says she is deeply disturbed by what the records show and is now calling publicly for his resignation, even as Herrera runs unopposed for reelection to his District 2 seat on the November 3 ballot.
The records, first reported by Hey SoCal, show that Martin Roman Herrera pleaded guilty or no contest to three DWI offenses in Bexar County, Texas, and served jail time and paid thousands of dollars in fines as a result. Court records also show that San Antonio police arrested Herrera in May 2008 on charges of misdemeanor indecent exposure and masturbation in a public restroom, and that Bexar County sheriff's deputies arrested him in late 2009 on an allegation that he attempted to grab a minor's penis in a public restroom. The case was later dismissed.
Herrera did disclose one of the incidents on his city council appointment application, reporting a 2010 DWI, according to the application cited by Hey SoCal's report. He was appointed to the council on January 26, 2021, after a 3-1 vote by sitting members to fill a vacant seat that opened when Jessica Ancona was elected mayor. At the time, he was described by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune as an Army veteran, experienced in city government, and an LGBTQ community leader. Herrera told the council at his appointment that he saw an opportunity to serve his community and was eager to join.
Mayor Calls for Herrera's Resignation
Ancona is not only calling for Herrera's resignation — she is also publicly pressing city leadership for answers about what officials knew and when. She has asked whether city leadership knew about the information in Herrera's record and how it was handled, and she has called on City Manager Alma Martinez, Police Chief Jake Fisher, and the police department to answer three specific questions: what city leadership knew, when it knew it, and what actions were taken.
Ancona also distanced herself from a statement issued by the city manager's office, saying she had not seen it before it went out and that it should not be represented as the official city statement. The City of El Monte, for its part, said it takes the matters regarding Herrera seriously and recognizes community concern, adding that the 2007 case was dismissed in July 2008 and that other cases should be characterized according to their final court dispositions. The city said it remains committed to protecting children and families, maintaining public trust, and serving residents with integrity and care.
Ancona has additionally called on leadership of the police officers association to address the matter publicly, and she has asked her El Monte City Council colleagues to join her in calling for Herrera's resignation.
California's Disqualification Rules
Under California Elections Code Section 20 and Government Code Section 1021, state law disqualifies individuals from holding elective office only for certain felony convictions involving bribery, embezzlement, perjury, or public corruption — misdemeanor convictions do not automatically trigger that kind of statutory disqualification, according to Justia Law.
Residents who want Herrera out before his term ends could pursue a formal recall. Under California Elections Code Sections 11000 through 11227, registered voters in a California municipality can initiate a recall election by serving a notice of intention and gathering a required threshold of petition signatures, per guidance from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Whether residents or local organizers will pursue that route remains an open question if Herrera declines to step down.
A Narrow Mandate and an Unopposed Race
Herrera won his current term in the November 2022 general election by a thin margin, defeating retired analyst Maryann G. Barrios with just over half the vote — 543 votes to 500, a 43-vote difference, according to the county registrar's figures. He had previously served as the council's Mayor Pro Tem in 2023 before that leadership role rotated to other members.
Now, according to Ballotpedia's election tracking, Herrera is running unopposed for reelection to the District 2 seat in the November 3, 2026 general election, meaning the disclosures land just weeks before voters would otherwise return him to office without a contest. The standoff between Ancona and Herrera comes as the November election approaches.
Herrera's biography, as reported around the time of his 2021 appointment, describes a winding path to El Monte politics. He joined the U.S. Army in 1996, served as a combat medic, and was honorably discharged in 1997 after a training injury. He later worked as an emergency medical technician with a San Antonio ambulance company, served on the city's transportation advisory board and the river authority's Westside Creeks restoration oversight committee, and was president of the Unity Foundation, an LGBTQ nonprofit. He moved back to Southern California in 2015 and has described himself as a nonprofit consultant for Van Comey Business Strategies, residing in the 11900 block of Lower Azusa Road in El Monte.
Separately, an independent investigation in El Monte this year examined whistleblower retaliation allegations filed against City Manager Alma Martinez by a city employee union leader, according to reporting by Hey SoCal, adding another layer of scrutiny to City Hall management as the Herrera controversy plays out.
