Councilman John Echevarria Launches Colton Mayoral Bid With People-First Vision

John Echevarria still remembers the moment public service first became real to him.

He was just a child at a career day in San Bernardino when police officers, a dispatcher and a police canine arrived for a demonstration. What stayed with him was not only the uniform or the dog, but the way the officers carried themselves and spoke about serving the communities where they lived.

“I was very inspired by the professionalism of the officers and the dispatcher that came to our school that day,” Echevarria said. “I learned that most officers live within the city they serve. A lot of them give back to the community where they grew up and they’re proud of that.”

Decades later, Echevarria is a Colton councilman, San Bernardino police lieutenant, husband, father of four and candidate for mayor in the city’s Nov. 3, 2026, general election.

His campaign comes at a defining moment for the city, as Colton continues facing issues familiar across the Inland Empire: housing affordability, traffic, public safety, small business retention, aging infrastructure and residents who want a more responsive local government.

For Echevarria, the campaign is also deeply personal.

At 16, his sister, Teresa Echevarria, was killed in 1995 at age 18. At the time, he said he was uncertain about his future and did not yet know what direction his life would take. Seeing police officers, firefighters, paramedics, hospital staff and court personnel respond to the tragedy changed how he viewed public service.

“I was on a different path,” Echevarria said. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do with myself. And it was, again, inspiring to see the professionalism by the officers, by the firefighters, by the paramedics as they handled the incident.”

That experience, he said, helped push him toward law enforcement and later civic leadership.

Raised in the housing projects on the westside of San Bernardino by a single mother, Echevarria said his childhood included financial hardship, welfare, food stamps and periods of instability. He said he never met his father and learned early to work, study and defend himself.

“My mom had to drop-out in high school,” Echevarria said. “So we figured out how to do our homework on our own with our siblings.”

He attended Alessandro Elementary, Wilson Elementary, Martin Luther King Middle School, Golden Valley Middle School, Cajon High School and Colton High School. Before and during his school years, he worked as a field laborer picking oranges, grapes, lemons and limes, and later worked at car washes, including Center Point Car Wash in Colton.

“There, I learned more hard work and improved my Spanish-speaking skills, and I learned how to budget my money,” he said.

After graduating from the police academy at 19, Echevarria became a police cadet in Upland and completed more than 250 ride-alongs. He was hired by the Upland Police Department on his 21st birthday.

“The chief of police came in and swore me in on a Sunday in front of my late mother and my late brother,” Echevarria said. “Right after the swearing, I went to my first roll call and off to the streets at 21 years old.”

He joined the San Bernardino Police Department in 2002 and has held numerous assignments, including patrol, canine, SWAT, crisis negotiations, field training, detectives, community affairs, public information and district command. In 2024, he was promoted to lieutenant and became Western District commander.

Echevarria has been recognized for his public safety work, which includes receiving the Life Saving Award, Officer of the Year, Unit Citation, and Meritorious Service. 

Echevarria holds an associate degree in administration of justice from San Bernardino Valley College, a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Cal State San Bernardino and a master’s degree in public administration from California Baptist University.

He was first elected to the Colton City Council in 2020, representing then-District 5, and was later reelected to represent District 4. He has also served as a Planning Commissioner and Mayor Pro Tempore.

Echevarria said his approach to local government begins with the residents.

“We have an organizational chart here in the city of Colton,” he said. “At the very top of it is the citizens of Colton. It’s not the mayor. It’s not the city council. It’s not any other elected, and it’s not the city manager. The people are first.”

If elected mayor, Echevarria said his priorities would include public safety, customer service and community success. He said public safety extends beyond police and fire to include lighting, streets, traffic engineering, potholes, city services and reliable utilities.

“When people talk about public safety, they think police, they think fire,” Echevarria said. “But I’m also talking about all city employees. This is a team effort.”

He said housing affordability would also be a focus.

“I want to see more affordable housing being built,” Echevarria said. “I want to be able to attract that and bring it over, and I want to keep it affordable.”

During his time on the council, Echevarria said one of his proudest accomplishments was supporting a cost-of-living increase and emergency pay adjustments intended to help retain city employees, including police officers, firefighters and utility workers.

“We had to take measures to give them that increase benefits-wise and pay-wise to keep them here in Colton,” he said.

Echevarria also said Colton must improve the experience for small businesses and developers trying to open or expand in the city, particularly when it comes to staffing, permitting and communication.

“I myself have heard complaints about the process and the length of time it takes to get things done,” he said. “We can do better.”

He said supporting small businesses goes beyond attending ribbon cuttings.

“By helping those small businesses, you’re helping the family, you’re helping that business stay afloat, and you’re producing jobs here in our city,” Echevarria said.

Outside City Hall and the police department, Echevarria helped launch the Colton Run Club, which he said became the city’s first known running club in decades. The club has grown to about 25 steady members and organized a March 2026 5K that drew more than 1,000 registered runners, with about 750 participating on race day.

“I did some research and Colton hadn’t had a run club since the ’70s,” Echevarria said. “All it took was some leadership and the drive to bring the community together.”

He and his wife, whom he met in 1999 and married in 2001, have four children. Echevarria said Sundays are family days, while Fridays and Saturdays are often reserved for Colton events, meetings, service requests, and community outreach. He can be seen most weekends coaching hundreds of student athletes throughout the city. 

Echevarria said his life story is one he often shares with students, especially those facing hardship.

“I let them know that I sat in some of their shoes,” he said. “I know what it is like to have a single parent or a deceased parent or other problems in the household and to never give up in life, to follow your dreams, to chase your dreams.”

As he seeks Colton’s mayoral seat, Echevarria said voters should see him as accessible and rooted in the city’s future.

“I think my biggest asset that I bring to this city is I’m a very personable representative,” Echevarria said. “I’m a very humble, hardworking person.”

He said his campaign is built around the same qualities that have shaped his life: service, discipline, community and persistence.

“I’m very passionate about the leadership here in Colton,” Echevarria said. “The citizens of Colton are very hardworking people. They are working families, and the mayor’s role should be someone who’s just as excited and as energetic as they are.”