Elected official from Fresno County dies suddenly in Mexico
The City of San Joaquin is mourning the loss of one of its council members who died unexpectedly over the weekend.
In a statement released Monday, City Manager Elizabeth Nunez confirmed Councilmember Jose Ornelas died Sunday night in Mexico. He had been there for a few weeks.
Ornelas’ cause of death was not disclosed, and Nunez could not confirm a cause, except saying the death was unexpected.
The news was also unexpected to Ornelas’ colleagues back home. San Joaquin Mayor Amarpreet Dhaliwal said everyone slowly began learning of Ornelas’ death Monday morning.
Dhaliwal said Ornelas’ is “a big loss” for the small Fresno County city with a five-member council.
Ornelas joined the council in 2014 and was halfway into his second term, according to Nunez.
As a councilman, Ornelas helped bring more residents to meetings and get them civically-involved, Dhaliwal said. The last time Dhaliwal interacted with Ornelas was during an online city council meeting in June.
The family expects to return Ornelas to the United States for services.
“Everybody is just trying to digest the news,” the mayor said.
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 2:50 PM.
