SARASOTA – Continuing our coverage of Hispanic Heritage Month. Mayor of the City of Sarasota, Erik Arroyo shares his humble beginnings in the Dominican Republic, and how his upbringing got him to where he is today.
“It just kind of makes you more grateful being here and knowing the opportunities that you have here aren’t offered anywhere else in the world,” said Mayor of the City of Sarasota, Erik Arroyo.
Born in Santiago, a city in northern part of the Dominican Republic, Erik Arroyo was raised by a single mother.
“I had significant support from my grandmother and grandfather who were not together so I always just being shifted around, but always in a happy state, my family was always happy,” said Mayor Arroyo.
At the age of 16 Arroyo came to the United States with his mom
“She became a citizen first and then we started that process, which is a lengthy process,” said Mayor Arroyo.
Arroyo attended Riverview high school and became the first in his family to graduate
“After that, what do you do, I asked my mom, what do you do, she was like I don’t know you’re the first one, figure it out, so I applied for FASFA, and I was a recipient of the Pell grant,” said Mayor Arroyo.
After earning his AA from Manatee Community College, he transferred to the University of Florida where he studied politics and later attended law school, after graduating he came back to Sarasota
“I ran for office, it was actually a long shot, I was supposed to lose by over 15 percentage points and I ended up winning,” said Mayor Arroyo.
Arroyo became the first Hispanic mayor in the City of Sarasota’s history.
“People recognize me and parents tell their kids, hey you can do this too and I say yes, absolutely, do it, we need good people running for office at any level, so that makes me very proud to be representing this community,” said Mayor Arroyo.
Through it all, Arroyo credits his humble upbringings and his family, including his wife and two-year old daughter for helping him through it all. And his mom, for always keeping him grounded
“Tells me not to let it get to my head and to keep working hard and remember why I did it in this first place, which is to help people,” said Mayor Arroyo.
Although Arroyo is the first Hispanic Mayor in the City of Sarasota, he does not want to be the last
“I want there to be more Hispanic mayors, more people from the community seeing that anyone can do this you don’t need to be some super wealthy person that is super connected to run for office, anyone can do it, all you need to do is have a vision and run with it,” said Mayor Arroyo.
National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed from September 15 to October 15 to celebrate the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
