Mayor

Dr. Yxstian Gutierrez, Mayor

Meet Yxstian Gutierrez

A resident of Moreno Valley for more than 20 years, Mayor Gutierrez serves as the City’s first directly elected Mayor. He began service as a City Council Member in 2013, was appointed Mayor Pro Tem and Mayor, and was elected Mayor of Moreno Valley in 2016. Mayor Gutierrez is proud of the City’s success in bringing more than 14,000 new jobs to our community over the past four years.

Under his leadership, Moreno Valley was ranked the third most fiscally strong City in the nation - a testament to sound financial management practices - and the City’s second library branch opened.

He championed the award-winning Hire MoVal program – an initiative that promotes hiring local Moreno Valley residents while offering economic incentives to businesses through utility rate discounts and business license waivers. The program’s expansion - Hire a Grad - benefits businesses that hire local college and career technical school graduates.

He advocates for Moreno Valley’s Citywide Camera program and cutting edge community policing programs which allow the City to stretch resources while reducing crime and making neighborhoods safer.

Mayor Gutierrez also works diligently to improve community engagement to help ensure that City government effectively represents its residents and businesses. He created the Summer at City Hall program to give local high school students an inside view at how city government works and spearheaded the establishment of the Emerging Leaders Council, a panel of college students between the ages of 18 and 25 who advise Moreno Valley officials on youth issues.

Mayor Gutierrez currently serves on the Parks, Community Services and Trails Committee, the Economic Development Subcommittee and the Finance Subcommittee. As an alternate, he serves on the Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG), School Districts/City Joint Task Force; Emerging Leaders Council; Library Commission, and the Public Safety Subcommittee.

In addition to his role as Mayor of this dynamic City, Mayor Gutierrez has spent more than a decade working with children as a special education teacher with the Moreno Valley Unified School District. He also serves on the board for the Renu Hope Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to lifting up working families by providing education and other support services to guide them on their paths to success.

He is a member of the United States Conference of Mayors Latino Alliance Committee along with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Mayor Gutierrez also serves as a local board member for the US Selective Service. Members are nominated by the governor and appointed by the director of the Selective Service System on behalf of the President of the United States. Mayor Gutierrez has been serving in that capacity since 2016.

The first member of his family to go to college, he earned an associate’s degree from Moreno Valley College, a bachelor’s degree from California Baptist University, a master’s degree in Education from American InterContinental University and a doctoral degree in Special Education from Northcentral University.

Mayor Gutierrez is also an alumnus of USC’s Executive Education in Public Policy program and the USC Executive Education Marshall School of Business program in Strategic Analysis in Achieving Competitive Advantage.

The former local business owner is proud to live, work and play right in his hometown. He enjoys spending time with his family, friends, and his two dogs- Kayla and Lassie.  

“I am honored to have been chosen as the first directly-elected Mayor of Moreno Valley, the City where I grew up and the City where I continue to live and work,” said Mayor Gutierrez. “I look forward to bringing more job opportunities and preserving an exceptional quality of life for our community. Together, we are putting Moreno Valley on the map and continuing to make it work for our residents.”