(Continued from page 3)
méxico-americano
Mexican American
muchos cuentos fue a cambiar
many tales he changed
con su pluma en su mano
with his pen in his hand
con paciencia y sin temor
with patience and without fear
escribió muchas verdades
he wrote many truths
y respeto nos ganó
and won respect for us
En paz descanse.
* * *
I'm not trying to bum you out or get too heavy, gentle reader, but
some of you out there may've heard of former Sec'y of Health and Welfare Mario Obledo and
might want to send him a get well card. According to the June 2nd Daily
Recorder, a legal newspaper, Obledo was recently honored by La Raza Lawyer Assn in
Sacramento which gave him a plaque for his community activism. The story noted that
Obledo has been fairly ill. A diabetic, he's had one leg amputated and a heart
bypass operation. The address provided where cards can be sent to him: Mario Obledo,
CCHO, P.O. Box 1026, Sacramento, CA 95812.
Regarding Obledo, a friend writes:
In 1984 I was among a crew of journalists who accompanied Obledo and other
officials on a fact-finding tour in Cuba.
At the time, I was a reporter/columnist for the El Paso Herald Post. At a
meeting with Fidel Castro, Obledo told this joke:
It seems that a Chicano soldier was trapped in a barrage of enemy fire. He
kept firing back, refusing to surrender.
But then things
got pretty hopeless and it seemed that he was giving up. Finally, he yelled to his
commanding officers: "¡Me
chingan! ¡Me chingan!" |
His
superiors looked at each other and remarked: "What a brave Mexican. There he
is, trapped under enemy fire, and he's still asking for a MACHINE-GUN." Castro got a
big kick out of it.
I thank Joe Olvera for his story about Obledo in Cuba. ¡Cuidense!
•
________________________
1 Usted, interpretada por
Luis Miguel
2 Civil service rule 7.19, allows the inspection of exam materials, rating
standards and scoring key, including an AP. Rule 7.19 (B) provides, "During
such inspection, the applicant shall not be allowed to copy any of the test questions or
answers except to the extent necessary to file a protest or appeal."
(Continued from
page 3)
There are
a number of excellent reasons that an expanded board makes sense. Moreover, there is
a compelling reason that the Latino community should strongly support board
expansion. The current lack of Latino representation on the present board of
supervisors and the almost certainty that this situation will get increasingly worse
without the expansion of the board to nine seats.
For example, while in 1997, the Latino population in Los Angeles County was
estimated at 43.8 percent, the Latino representation on the board of supervisors was 20
percent.
Further, the Latino population in Los Angles County grew from 37.8 percent in
1990 to 43.8 percent in 1997, a 6 percent Latino increase in population over seven
years. This Latino population percentage increase averaged over .08 percent a year.
If we project the same level of Latino population increase into the future years, it could
be estimated that the Latino population in Los Angeles County could be approximately 49.8
percent in the year 2004 and up to 55.8 percent by the year 2011. |
. Without expansion, the
Latino representation on the board of supervisors would remain at 20 percent.
Without the increase in the number of board of supervisor seats and the inability
of the Latino community to elect candidates of their own choice, the Latino community will
continue to have only limited influence over county policies.
With the expansion of the board of supervisors many positive things can happen. The
Latino community will have an opportunity to elect candidates of its own choice in two
districts. In addition, the Latino community will be able to influence elections in
two other districts because of the significant Latino population and Latino voter base in
those districts. Compare this potential outcome with the Latino community's current
ability to only elect a candidate of its choice from one district at the present time and
until 2012 if expansion is not adopted.
Additionally, the
cost of a candidate running for office will decrease significantly. If we go from 5
to 9 districts, each district would decline in size from approximately 1,930,00 to
1,070,000. It would lose over 42 percent of its population or approximately 855,000
residents per district. Because of the large decrease in voters the cost of an
election should decrease by 42 percent.
The cities and the residents of each city in the district should get more attention
from their individual supervisors. For example, the City of Lancaster is one of 24
cities in Mike Antonovich's current district. However, the map of the board of supervisors
could be redrawn so that Lancaster is one of nine cities in a new Antelope Valley/West San
Fernando Valley district. The City of Lancaster would be much more influential with
this new smaller
(Continued on
page 5)
|
|