A local CTA president sent out an e-mail to teachers informing them that Gloria Romero is leading in their internal polling among teachers. Yes, that’s right, the non-CTA endorsed candidate is ahead according the the union research. This race is important because there are three strong candidates who are likely not going to win a majority, but Romero is making a strong showing thus far. CTA is one of the strongest unions in the state, but if it’s candidate does not advance, it could be an embarrassment.

Check out the e-mails (linked 1, 2, 3) that have caused concern in Ventura County and how the teacher union establishment is handling the possibility that Gloria Romero, the candidate that they did not back, may win tomorrow. This is a primer in how unions mobilize their base, but in this case, there seems to be a disconnect between who the leadership wants to see in the state superintendent role vs. the sentiment of the rank and file teachers.

“Here’s why the political elite in California are watching this tragic murder case involving alleged killers who come from private schools and lives of power and privilege:

The case has elicited the involvement of California’s Democratic Party political stars, from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to County Federation of Labor chief Maria Elena Durazo — all rallying around the accused while doing nothing to support the family of the widely-loved dead young man, who went, simply, by the name Lu.”

I think that Villaraigosa, Durazo, Romero, and De Leon should have said nothing publicly about Fabian Nuñez’s kid, Esteban and his trials and tribulations, especially without expressing sympathy for the real victim in this case, a deceased young man, Lu Santos. Politically a “no comment on this pending case” would probably have served all of these leaders better than expressing sympathy for Fabian Nuñez and his child, who is out on bail, in my view.

Melendez was a shadow player in that most Californians or people outside of educational policy probably would not know what she did or how her research and analysis shaped decisions. But I had the opportunity to meet her twice, and I can say that the woman knew her stuff. She was full of facts, historical references, and statistics about education, access, outcomes, and diversity in California. In addition, she had a nice list of educational accomplishments herself. And worth noting, she was a founding member of the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project, which has given our young people in California an opportunity to develop leadership skills and enhance their academic preparedness. So sometimes people wonder why we don’t have more Latinos in elected positions, but some who serve in the key support roles are just as important even if we don’t know their names. Ms. Melendez’s advocacy and leadership will be missed.

We have already documented how some Latino political figures such as Mayor Villaraigosa, Assemblyman Kevin De Leon, State Senator Gloria Romero, and LA County Federation of Labor Head Maria Elena Durazo have publicly expressed support for Esteban Nuñez, the son of the former Assembly Speaker, who is facing trial for murder and his family. Even Villaraigosa’s ex-wife, Corina chimed in expressing, “I know that Esteban is in school and working toward a bachelor’s degree” according to the LA Weekly piece.

I encourage you to read this well researched and thoughtful piece. Writer Christine Pelisek details the players in this case in a way that I would have liked to do if I had more time and resources to devote to this. One interesting glimpse into the Nuñez family is how Pelisek notes, Esteban’s mother, Maria Robles, a nurse and non-profit executive, smoking outside of the courtroom with her grown children. I was under the impression that she and Fabian had three children (pictured here), Esteban, a teen girl, and the younger boy, but regardless, smoking is a dirty habit for someone in a profession dedicated to health and wellness.

Calls for immigration reform under Obama - Looks like the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has already sent a letter to President Obama to request a meeting to discuss the issue. Will the CHC follow a strategic approach as outlined by Seneca in the previous post?

Salazar cites ethical lapses at Interior Dept. - “This department has suffered because of ethical lapses and criminal activity at the highest level.” Sounds like Secretary Salazar has his work cut out for him.

Private, political histories loom over House race - With CA State Senator Gloria Romero having said that she’s not interested in Hilda Solis’s former congressional seat, we are left with Judy Chu and Gil Cedillo. Chu already has key labor endorsements, but many were hoping that a Latino would replace Congresswoman Solis. Note the bad blood between Gil Cedillo and LA Mayor Villaraigosa.

What would you, as a reader of LatinoPoliticsBlog, like to see us cover in the coming days? Drop links and give us some ideas in the comments!

Here is Seneca’s update:

As Obama goes into home stretch just before the holidays on his first tier appointments, which include the Cabinet, top White House Staff and a few other lesser appointments, it looks like Latinos will now have three Cabinet slots: Commerce (Richardson) , Interior (Salazar),  and Labor (Solis), two White House upper middle selections Cecilia Munoz (Inter Government Affairs) and Louis Caldera (White House Military Office). Rep. Becerra is not accepting USTR. Mayor Manny Diaz of Miami is now apparently out of the running for Transportation. Rep. Grijalva lost out on Interior, but another Latino Sen. Salazar was named. Now it remains to be seen if this only Mexican-American US Senator will be replaced by his brother in Congress, John Salazar. With Mel Martinez (R) leaving after one term from Florida and if no Latino replaces Salazar in the Senate, then Bob Menendez (D-NJ) may be the only Latino (Cuban American) US Senator after 2010.

Congress will see in 2009 at least one more Latino Congressman, Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM). Also the newly elected Connecticut Democrat Jim Himes defeated the last remaining GOP Congressman from New England, Chris Shays. Himes, who is Peruvian born to white American parents and grew up in Lima and Colombia, speaks fluent Spanish. But will he join the Congressional Hispanic Caucus? If he does, he will be the first Rhodes scholar in the Caucus.

In the next Congress the Cuban-Americans will retain their six people in Congress: Sen Menendez (D) and Sen Martinez (R), two GOP Diaz Balart brothers (Mario and Lincoln) and Ileana Ros Lehtenin (R) from Florida and Albino Sires (D) from New Jersey who replaced Menendez in the House. The three Democrat Puerto Ricans will remain unchanged in numbers: Jose Serrano and Nydia Velazquez from New York and Luis Gutierrez of Illinois. The Mexican-Americans will have 17 members with New Mexican Lujan’s election. Texas has Democrats Hinojosa, Ortiz, Gonzalez, Rodriguez, Cuellar and Reyes, add Arizona’s Democrats Pastor and Grijalva and California’s Democrats Roybal, Napolitano, Becerra, Baca and two sisters Loretta and Linda Sanchez and Colorado’s Rep. John Salazar and his brother soon to be Secretary of Interior, US Senator Ken Salazar. Now we have to wonder who will replace Hilda Solis. It looks like CA State Senator Gloria Romero is interested in the seat. The current national grand total is three Latino US Senators and 23 Latino Congress-persons (House) plus ‘honorary’ Hispanic Caucus members Reps Costa and Cardoza. Unfortunately, the four Cuban GOP members and the two Sanchez sisters are not members of the Hispanic Caucus (see Joe Baca’s name calling, but it looks like the Sanchez sisters will rejoin now that Nydia Velazquez is the chair of CHC), another painful indication of the Latino lack of unity and penchant for squabbles.

The Obama sub-cabinet (Deputy Secretaries, Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, members of powerful federal regulatory agencies and some other independent agencies) basically all the Presidential Appointments with Senate Confirmation (PAS) will be closely monitored. Obama will have the opportunity to name the first Latino to the ultimate Uber-independent regulatory agency: the Federal Reserve Board in Washington. Also, the possible opening of a seat on the Supreme Court thus enabling Obama to name the first Latino to that August body. Meanwhile all eyes in the Latino community will be on the rest of the Obama PAS appointments. The primary focus will be in the Education, Health, Labor and immigration areas. Also will the Congressional Hispanic Caucus get to ‘vet’ or at least meet as a whole with the nominees for Homeland Security (Secretary) and its two (Under Secretaries) Latino key component agencies: Immigration (CIS) and Immigration Enforcement (ICE)? And will the CHC get to vet the Health, Education, Justice and Labor nominees for Secretaries? And will the CHC be consulted regarding the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere, the nominee for US Ambassador to Mexico, the OAS Ambassador, Special Envoys and others?

Latino advocacy groups should ensure that these nominees address their NGO groups and appear before the Congressional Hispanic Caucus members and staff to review the Hispanic agenda (if one can be agreed upon) and provide ‘top cover’ to the Latino appointees and Latino career personnel be moved upwards. One expectation, which should be conveyed to the senior Latino appointees (Cabinet), is that they should periodically gather the senior Latino PAS appointees and other identifiable high fly-er Latino appointees and career types i.e. diplomats and senior civil service (SES). Latino numbers among military General/Flag rank officers should be reviewed to provide interest and top cover in the DoD selection and promotion process. Also the process of gathering Latinos federal movers and shakers is to ensure that it helps tremendously to improve the Latino esprit de corps among the Hispanic federal work force as well as the appointee group. The national Hispanic issues agenda should be reviewed, promoted, changed or modified as needed and addressed publicly whenever required. Immigration, for instance, will most likely not be addressed in the first year or two of the new Administration because of the high political costs. Obama will need to preserve his ‘going-in political capital’ for the most urgent national needs: the economy and extracting ourselves out of the quagmire of Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Yet, the fact that Latinos are over 60% of the undocumented immigrants in the US, which is a reality and requires attention especially in an alarmingly declining economic situation, could provoke an ugly and contentious anti-Latino backlash from the US body politic. This tangle’s remedy cannot be postponed indefinitely. To avoid or duck the immigration challenge would be highly irresponsible.

Forceful leadership at the highest level of the Executive and the Congress will be indispensable for an inevitable Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). In sum, Obama has his work cut out. The expectations are high within the whole Latino agenda. Hence, the appointments and social/economic issues will be paramount. The challenge for the Latino community is to wisely articulate its expectations, its needs, and its vision of the role of the Latino population in the out years. This will require unity of purpose, focus, constant reminders to the Administration, public commentary and provide top cover to Latino public servants, similarly judicious cooperation and coordination with Latino advocacy groups are necessary to address the Latino community’s needs and the hurdles posed. Lastly, the palpable tomfoolery among some of our Latino Congress people is readily viewed as a lack of seriousness. The recent antics of the Sanchez Sisters, Joe Baca and former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez’s madcap caper are dreadful examples…por lo tanto veremos!

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, Hilda Solis at DNC 08/27/08

People continue to be outraged by this violent act that killed Luis Santos, a 22 year old college student. If you want to hear some podcasts with interviews of Mr. Santos, the father of the victim, I suggest you listen to these here at the John and Ken show. I’m usually an NPR kind of girl, but John and Ken raise some good points about this case. Specifically, note how Nuñez got a $90,000 board of director job with Zenith National Insurance (a workers comp insurer) and joins a Republican lobbying group, Mercury. The arrest wasn’t made until after those jobs had been extended to Fabian Nuñez, while the crime had occurred two months ago. They also suggest that maybe there is a Mirthala Salinas curse, which is kind of amusing, since both Fabian Nuñez and Mayor Villaraigosa dated this woman and have faced and are currently dealing with family turmoil.

Ironically, former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez sponsored a bill that created state Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy. I wonder if he even read this bill or the research supporting it. I mean, how can you put your name on something as a legislator, without doing your homework about that very subject and maybe looking into your own life for any signs?

Another issue that John and Ken brought up on their show, which I agree with to a certain extent is this statement issued by State Senator Gloria Romero, “People are very empathetic, very concerned and reaching out to Fabian, saying ‘We grieve for you as a father going through this at this time.’ My hope is people will understand this is not a politician, this is not a political player, this is a father going through one of the most difficult issues to confront his family.” I hate to break it to you Senator Romero, but Fabian Nuñez is still a political player. He didn’t leave the assembly to go manufacture widgets or clean toilets. Grieving for colleagues in the capitol is fine, but Senator Romero could have said something expressing grief for the family who lost a son. Jailed or free, Fabian Nuñez and his wife Maria still have their child; the Santos family won’t see their son again.

Photo Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times 12/04/08, Maria, Teresa, and Fabian Nuñez with attorney Bradley Patton

Government accountability and giving California’s residents an opportunity to access public documents from local government boards and the ability examine what happens in our courts are two important issues that Gloria Romero has decided to tackle. To better hold our elected leaders and judges accountable, we need to have more transparency in our courts and governing boards. Earlier this month, Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB 1732 by Senator Romero into law, which closed loopholes in the Brown Act by giving members of local government boards better access to public documents. SB 1732 also makes sure that local governments hold meetings out in the open so the public can attend and impact the decision making. In regards to open courts, Senator Romero is calling for the Judicial Council of California to adopt new rules protecting public access to courtrooms.

The action in regards to open courts was prompted by an incident in the Yolo County courts, where court deputies locked a courtroom when a defendant charged with murder was being arraigned. In addressing the California Rules of the Court, Romero stated, “The recent incident in Yolo County is a shocking reminder of how easily these constitutional rights can be violated. Open, public courts are a cornerstone of our justice system.”

Thank you Senator Romero for making our government more transparent in the Golden State!

Photo Credit: California State Assembly Latino Caucus

I can envision Senator Obama as being someone who can bridge these two groups having come of age in Chicago, a city with a sizeable Latino and Black population. While Hillary Clinton touts her experience defending children’s rights, being a first lady of both Arkansas and the USA, I don’t think that her role as Senator of NY placed her close to the issues within these two communities. She has been ensconced in Washington, D.C. And both of these candidates do have issues that Latinos need to question, such as support of the border wall, which I view as more of a token or symbolic structure.

Finally, I want to give props to CA State Senator Gloria Romero. Referencing Senator Clinton’s recent trip to King Taco in East Los with her Latino taco munching crew (some Latino politicos including Mayor Villaraigosa), she said, “I don’t think eating tacos is effective. We need to address what unites us. The key is not to raise the wedge issue.” The Clintons didn’t have to bring the BET founder into the debate (who really doesn’t do his community any favors with his stereotypical television programming) or suggest that it takes a white establishment politician to make the dreams of minorities come true.