Biography

Cox, daughter of retired United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 Officer, John Willett. Cox, and her husband of 30 years, San Diego County

San Diego County, California

San Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...

 Supervisor and former Chula Vista Mayor Greg Cox, have two daughters, Elizabeth and Emmie. Both Cheryl and her two daughters have graduated from Chula Vista's Hilltop High School

Hilltop High School

Hilltop Senior High is a four-year public high school located in Chula Vista, California and is part of the Sweetwater Union High School District . The school colors are kelly green, white, and black. The school mascot is the "Lancer"...

.

Cox received Master's degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in Political Science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 from San Diego State University

San Diego State University

San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...

 and a Doctorate

Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

 in Education from the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

. She worked for 30 years as a teacher, principal, and administrator in the Chula Vista Elementary School District; she was also an assistant professor at National University

National University (California)

National University , founded in 1971, is a comprehensive, nonsectarian, independent, accredited, non-profit private university headquartered in La Jolla, California, United States, with academic degree programs offered at campuses located throughout the state, one in Henderson, Nevada, and...

 before being elected to the Chula Vista Elementary School District Board of Trustees in 2000. Dr. Cox was elected the 39th Mayor of Chula Vista, the second largest city in the County of San Diego, in 2006. Currently she is a member of the City of Chula Vista Charter Review Commission, Nature Center Board of Trustees and the President of the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center Board of Directors. She is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition

Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a coalition of over 600 mayors who support a number of gun control initiatives that the group calls "commonsense reforms" to fight illegal gun trafficking and gun violence in the United States...

, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 mayor Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...

 and Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 mayor Thomas Menino

Thomas Menino

Thomas Michael "Tom" Menino is the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, United States and the city's first Italian-American mayor...

.

Cox, a Republican, was elected mayor in November 2006 in a runoff vote against incumbent mayor Steve Padilla

Steve Padilla

Steve Padilla is a public policy, advocacy and communications consultant and a noted California politician. He served as Mayor of the City of Chula Vista, CA from 2002 to 2006 and as a member of the California Coastal Commission from 2005 to 2007...

. In her primary election in June 2006, she garnered 40.5% of the vote to then-Mayor Steve Padilla's 30.8%, and Councilman Steve Castaneda's 24.8% of the vote.

Cox, won re-election for Mayor in the June 2010 Primary election in a three person race by winning 56.3% of the vote, her opponent Councilman Steve Castaneda garnered 29.6% and Jorge Dominguez received 13.6% of the vote.

In April 2007, the Public Integrity Unit of San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis

Bonnie Dumanis

Bonnie M. Dumanis is currently the District Attorney of San Diego County. Dumanis has been the District Attorney since 2003, when she defeated incumbent Paul Pfingst. Dumanis is currently running for Mayor of San Diego.Dumanis, a Republican, is the first openly gay or lesbian DA in the country...

began prosecuting political opponents of Cheryl Cox. Patrick O'Toole, who had previously been appointed as US Attorney for San Diego by Attorney General John Ashcroft, headed the unit. O'Toole prosecuted a staffer for mayor Steven Padilla who had taken two hours off work in an effort to get a photograph of Cheryl Cox with her disgraced family friend David Malcolm
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070520/news_1m20piu.html at a twilight yacht party fundraiser for Cox. The staffer was charged with five felony counts of perjury for telling a grand jury that he filled out his leave slip from work before rather than after he took off from his job at the City of Chula Vista. He pled guilty to lesser charges as part of a plea deal. http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070520/news_1m20piu.html

The now-dormant unit ended its active phase with a second and final prosecution, that of Steve Castaneda, who had run against Cheryl Cox for mayor. Castaneda was prosecuted for allegedly lying about whether he planned to buy a condo, even though he never bought the condo in question. According to the San Diego Union Tribune, "Castaneda was a tenant at the complex and was accused of seeking favors, such as free rent, from Sunbow owner Ash Israni, according to the 1,200-page grand jury transcript. The investigation found that Castaneda paid his rent and didn't ask for special treatment. O'Toole told the grand jury the perjury charges are warranted because Castaneda should be held accountable for 'lying about the facts'; even if no crime was uncovered...Castaneda has been vocal about O'Toole's investigations, saying they are politically motivated. He contended that Dumanis conspired with Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox, his political rival in the 2006 mayoral primary." http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070923/news_1m23casta.html

Mayor Cox will be termed limited from office in December 2014.

Other sources of information about this subject

• Padilla criticizes Cox's record on test scores, finances, secrecy By Tanya Mannes UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER October 13, 2006 www.signonsandiego accessed 2007-1-6
• New authority figure Ex-teacher wants to bring a 'sense of order' to council By Tanya Mannes UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER October 19, 2006 www.signonsandiego accessed 2007-1-5
• Steve Padilla is the Best Choice to Lead Chula Vista into the Future November 3, 2006 Editorial (Daniel Muñoz, editor) La Prensa San Diego laprensa-sandiego.org accessed 2007-1-6
• SHOCKED, SHOCKED TO FIND OUT THAT POLITICS TOOK PLACE IN THAT GOVERNMENT OFFICE By Bill Cavala April 3, 2007 California Progress Report www.californiaprogressreport.com accessed 2007-4-18