People of Montecito: Alex Ortiz

“I’m not really from here. I come from a city called Vallejo. It’s about thirty minutes north of San Francisco. It’s not a nice area; we don’t even have a community college there.

Coming down here, it gives me the motivation to work hard. I see people living in this nice area and I want to make my way up there one day. I’m a student and I work part-time here (at Renaud’s). There’s definitely a different crowd in Montecito than in the Bay Area. People come in with their heads held high. And that’s what I strive to be one day.”