Senior Roberto Gomez III recently made a splash at the latest Del Mar City Council meeting, getting up to voice his opinions shortly before the meeting adjourned. Seniors currently taking Government are required to attend a city council meeting as part of the curriculum, so Gomez’s speech was heard by several fellow classmates, as well as broadcast on local television. The Facebook video Gomez posted of the event, which has so far received nearly 200 “likes,” allowed Gomez’s message to further reach the masses.
Gomez did not necessarily have much of a plan before his impromptu presentation. He said, “I was really bored, and people needed to hear what I had to say.” On the video, it appears as though he is reading off a script, while, in reality, there was nothing scripted or planned about it. Gomez was dared to speak up at the council meeting by Senior Chris Clifford, and once Gomez took the stage, he said, “words just started coming out, and I had no idea what I was saying. It just happened to sound good and come out right.”
Over the course of his speech, Gomez addressed the need for less police activity at parties, an affordable movie theater in the Del Mar area, and more available parking at the Del Mar Highlands Shopping Center. He wrapped up the presentation with what is now his signature line: “We live to live, we live to laugh, we live to love. Robby Gomez.”
“That’s an original quote,” said Gomez. “I started saying it and I had no idea where I was going with it. Again, it came out right. I quoted myself at the end for trademark purposes.”
Gomez thought the high points of his speech were in the delivery rather than the content. He kept a straight face and was confident, and didn’t laugh, smile, or stutter. He said that if he had, it would have been “catastrophic.”
The overall response to what Gomez said was and has been good. “Directly after the meeting was over, a lot of the council members came up to me and thanked me for voicing my opinions. The mayor didn’t seem too happy, but he took me seriously and didn’t say anything to me afterwards. My parents loved it; they thought it was hilarious. I didn’t get in trouble from anyone about this,” he said.
“Robby’s speech should inspire people to stand up for their rights,” said Senior Stephan Osorio.
Senior Brennen de Aguirre posted to his Facebook wall: “If there has been anything that I’ve learned from going to Cathedral, it’s been that I live to live, I live to laugh, and I live to love. -Robby Gomez. Life just seems so clear now.”
Will anything come of the complaints and comments Gomez addressed to the council? “I doubt it,” said Gomez. “No one ever listens to kids and they won’t pay attention to what I actually said. It’s okay though, because I had fun and people got a kick out of what I said.”
And the requisite final parting thought from Cathedral’s very own Roberto Gomez III:
“Live to live, live to laugh, live to love. Robby Gomez.”