Ken Ibarra, a former San Bruno councilman, was elected to the Board of Directors of the Lions Clubs International, a global service organization with about 1.4 million members in more than 200 countries, where he will help make the decisions and the policies for the organization across the world.
Ibarra has been a member with the San Bruno Lions club since 1992, under the district including San Francisco, San Mateo County and Palo Alto that consists of 54 clubs and nearly 1,600 members. He was endorsed by the state of California, and elected last month on June 29, joining a total group of 34 international directors. The term will last two years.
Ken Ibarra
“Our district has not had a national director for over 60 years. So I’m very proud of that,” Ibarra said.
He said he initially joined the San Bruno Lions Club to be with friends and for the social aspect of it. He then became president of the club in 1998 and district governor in 2009 to 2010 where he worked to support and inspire the clubs across the district.
“My strong involvement has been in training leaders. So I was part of the Leadership Institute, not only the district but also the state for over 10 years,” he said.
His involvement with the San Bruno Lions club includes helping build many of the satellite parks and sponsoring the Posy Parade, a parade modeled after the Tournament of Roses Parade. Recently, the club has been involved in providing vision screening to preschools and elementary schools to check children’s eyesight, using a technical device to check for abnormality and then referring them to a vision professional if needed.
“We’re very proud of that, we’re very much entrenched in the community. We’ve done a lot during the COVID, and helping support families and businesses. And it’s also helped the club grow,” he said.
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Ibarra is also a licensed architect and started a business soon after moving to San Bruno in 1983. After getting involved with the community through his work as well as through his daughters’ schools and sports teams, he decided to run for the City Council to do more for the city. He started serving on the council in 1996 and was there for 22 years.
“Twenty-two years seems like a long time but it was just so many things that we were very proud that we were able to accomplish,” he said.
Projects he was a part of include having the BART station come in and then the new Caltrain platform, redeveloping 20 acres which produced more than 1,600 units of housing, and supporting remodeling of the Shops at Tanforan, he said.
“It wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t have the people,” he said. “People that I’ve met over those 29 years have supported me.”
He also served alongside Vice Mayor Marty Medina and Ibarra asked Medina to join the San Bruno Lions and now sponsors him.
“We’re trying to find ways to improve our community through the Lions and other organizations,” Medina said. “He got this honor and it was actually a vote from the Lions across California, our region and it’s well-deserved. He’s been on the Lions for a very long time.”
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