Joe Baca: “I rise to honor an individual, a friend, and pay tribute to the late Richard Romero from the Inland Empire, a…”

“I rise to honor an individual, a friend, and pay tribute to the late Richard Romero from the Inland Empire, a businessman, a philanthropist, a dreamer, a community leader. Richard was a pillar of the Inland Empire. From his humble beginning in New Mexico, Richard received great success in business and in life, but Richard's greatest satisfaction came from helping others. Recently I talked to his wife, and she said that one of the most important things about Richard was that he cared about people in the community. He felt that it was important for people to learn about reading, writing and arithmetic. Richard touched the lives of many individuals in the community by giving unselfishly. He rescued the University of Laverne from the brink of extinction; he turned it around and helped the University of Laverne in southern California. I know, because my son will be graduating from Laverne University on Saturday of this week, and I want to thank Richard for taking the leadership and helping the University of Laverne, a private institution.”