Rudy Ortega Jr.

Rudy Ortega Jr. was appointed to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners by Mayor Karen Bass on January 5, 2026, and was confirmed by the Los Angeles City Council on February 10. His term ends on June 30, 2031. Ortega Jr. is a respected and longtime leader within the greater Los Angeles American Indian community and has extensive experience governing and serving local tribes and indigenous people, supporting land conservation, and taking climate action.

Ortega Jr. is the Tribal President of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, a native sovereign nation of northern Los Angeles County. As the elected leader of his Tribe, Ortega Jr. oversees the governmental body and manages affairs pertaining to the rights of all Fernandeño Tataviam tarahat (people). A member of Siutcabit, the lineage of present-day Encino, Ortega Jr.’s ancestors come from the villages that originated in the geographical areas of Santa Clarita Valley, Simi Valley, and San Fernando Valley.

His leadership work follows in the footsteps of his great-grandfather Antonio Maria Ortega—from whom he receives his traditional role as tomiar, or leader, and who fought in Los Angeles Superior Court in the 19th century to preserve traditional lands and protect Native title to Mexican land grants from encroaching settlers—and his father, the late Rudy Ortega Sr., who served as the previous leader of the Tribe for over fifty years and was elected to the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission in 1977.

Following his father's leadership, Ortega Jr. was appointed to the Native American Indian Commission by Mayor James Hahn in 2004, where he continues to serve today as a commissioner. From 2004 to 2019, Ortega Jr. invigorated the Tribe’s non-profit Pukúu Cultural Community Services as the Executive Director, serving the greater Los Angeles County American Indian community and overseeing the American Indian Cultural Center within the Angeles Forest. As Tribal President, Ortega Jr. has helped establish the Tataviam Land Conservancy, Paséki Strategies Corporation, Native First Lending, Tiüvac’a’ai Tribal Conservation Corps, and a co-management agreement with the City of San Fernando for Rudy Ortega Sr. Park. As a Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commissioner, Ortega Jr. has been a member of the Los Angeles River Master Plan Steering Committee to ensure local tribes' and indigenous people's participation. Ortega Jr. also served the Edison Consumer Advisory Panel Board and on Commission member of the Climate Emergency Mobilization Committee appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti.

In addition to serving on the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners, Ortega Jr. currently is a board member on Santa Clarita Watershed Recreation and Conservation Authority, Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.), Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, and LA County Blue Ribbon Commission on Climate Action and Fire-Safe Recovery (appointed by Los Angeles County Supervisor Horvath).