Joe Armendarez for City Treasurer Trusted Leadership and Fiscal Responsibility
Updated: Sep 12
Fontana’s next City Treasurer should understand more than numbers. The role calls for steady judgment, public trust, and a real connection to the people whose tax dollars must be managed with care.
Joe Armendarez brings that combination to the race for Fontana City Treasurer. He is a combat veteran, business owner, experienced CFO, former school board member, Planning Commission chair, coach, mentor, father, grandfather, and lifelong Fontana community leader. His story is rooted in service, from the Marine Corps to neighborhood ballfields to public oversight at City Hall.
His campaign is built on a clear promise: bring transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility to Fontana City Hall.
A Fontana story that began in local schools
Joe Armendarez is not new to Fontana. He is part of the city’s modern story.
As a member of the first graduating class of A.B. Miller High School, Joe came up through the same local school system that has shaped generations of Fontana families. That experience matters because public service is strongest when it is grounded in lived knowledge of the community.
After high school, Joe served in the United States Marine Corps. His military service included combat experience, a background that reflects discipline, responsibility, and the ability to make serious decisions under pressure.
Those qualities carried into his life back home. Joe did not return to Fontana simply to build a career. He returned to serve.
His record includes years of involvement with local youth programs, including leadership roles with Fontana Pop Warner Football and Fontana Elks Little League. He also coached the Fontana High School Marine Corps JROTC Rifle Team and helped lead the team to its first national competition.
That kind of work rarely brings headlines. It takes early mornings, late practices, parent meetings, and constant encouragement. It also shows a long-term commitment to young people, families, and the institutions that give a city its strength.
Service that reaches from youth programs to public office
Joe’s community work eventually expanded into elected and appointed public service.
In 2020, he was elected to the Fontana Unified School District Board of Education. In that role, he advocated for students and families across the district. School board service requires listening, weighing competing needs, and making decisions that affect classrooms, staff, parents, and taxpayers.
In 2025, Joe was appointed to the Fontana Planning Commission. He now serves as chair.
That work adds another layer to his public service background. Planning decisions shape how a city grows, how neighborhoods develop, and how public priorities are balanced over time. Serving as chair requires preparation, fairness, and respect for process.
Together, these roles show a pattern. Joe Armendarez has served Fontana through mentorship, education, civic planning, and public accountability.
Financial experience matters in the Treasurer’s office
The City Treasurer’s role is about trust. Residents deserve confidence that public funds are handled carefully, records are treated seriously, and financial decisions are guided by responsibility rather than politics.
Joe brings direct financial experience to that conversation.
As a business owner and experienced CFO, he understands budgets, cash flow, reporting, risk, and long-term planning. Those are not abstract ideas. In business, poor financial management has real consequences. Bills must be paid. Resources must be tracked. Decisions must be backed by clear numbers.
That background gives Joe a practical view of taxpayer stewardship.
A responsible treasurer should focus on:
Clear reporting
Residents should be able to understand how public dollars are being managed.
Careful oversight
Public funds require consistent review, strong habits, and attention to detail.
Accountability
City finances should be handled in a way that builds trust and answers reasonable questions.
Long-term responsibility
Good financial management looks beyond the next meeting or budget cycle.
Joe’s campaign for City Treasurer centers on these principles. He has made fiscal responsibility a key part of his message because Fontana residents deserve leadership that treats every dollar with care.
A public servant with deep family roots in Fontana
Public finance can sound technical, but city budgets affect everyday life. They touch public safety, parks, streets, schools, and the services residents count on.
Joe’s connection to Fontana is personal. He is a proud father of three Fontana Unified graduates and grandfather of nine. His family’s roots in the city give him a stake in Fontana’s future that goes beyond one election cycle.
That perspective matters for a City Treasurer. The office is not just about balancing numbers. It is about protecting public resources so the city can serve families today and remain strong for the next generation.
Joe’s life reflects that long view.
He has watched Fontana grow. He has served its youth. He has participated in its school governance. He has helped guide planning discussions. He has managed finances in the private sector. Each part of that background points to the same theme: steady service over time.
Transparency and accountability at City Hall
Trust in local government grows when residents can see that leaders are careful, honest, and consistent. Joe Armendarez is running on a commitment to bring that approach to the Treasurer’s office.
Transparency means making financial information easier to understand. Accountability means taking responsibility for how public dollars are managed. Fiscal responsibility means using sound judgment, asking the right questions, and keeping taxpayers’ interests at the center of the work.
Those are not slogans. They are standards.
Joe’s background as a Marine, CFO, business owner, coach, school board member, and Planning Commission chair gives him a broad view of what leadership requires. He knows how to work with people. He knows how to manage responsibility. He knows Fontana.
For residents looking for experienced, community-rooted leadership, Joe Armendarez for Fontana City Treasurer offers a clear case: a proven record of service, a practical financial background, and a commitment to careful stewardship at City Hall.
Fontana deserves a City Treasurer who sees public money as a public trust. Joe Armendarez has spent his life serving the community, leading with discipline, and taking responsibility seriously. His deep roots, financial experience, and record of service have prepared him to serve Fontana with integrity, accountability, and care.
