The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

Power struggle

Colon, associate director of the United Community Center and resident of the 12th Supervisor District on Milwaukee’s south side, feels it is time for Latino leadership to be present on the Board.

“There are no Latinos on the County Board, and I feel it’s important we get some representation on the county level,” he said.

Colon is part of a growing number of people hungry for strong Hispanic leadership at the city, county and state levels of Wisconsin government.

Hispanic political leaders in Milwaukee are sparse. State Rep. Pedro Colon (D-Milwaukee), who represents the 8th Assembly District, is the

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only Hispanic representative in state legislature, and 12th District Alderman Angel Sanchez remains the lone Hispanic member of the city’s Common Council.

“It’s very lonely,” Pedro Colon said of being the sole Hispanic representative.

Pedro Colon said getting more Hispanics politically involved, both in terms of voting and running for office, lies in having a focused direction.

“We need to better target, address and welcome Latinos into our view of government,” Pedro Colon said.

Ramon Candelaria, executive director of the Latino Community Center, said politicians must be willing to get “down and dirty with some of our issues” if they want the Hispanic vote.

“They’re going to have to work around those issues and concerns to get our vote,” Candelaria said. “It’s not just coming in and having meetings with us.”

Allowing Hispanics to be involved in the campaigning process is equally vital, Candelaria said.

“There needs to be that representation within the administration,” he said.

For others, the issue is one of partisanship.

Perfecto Rivera, vice president of community relations at Merchants and Manufacturers Bank Corp. and a board member of Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee, scoffs at the idea the Democratic Party, historically popular among minority groups, is genuinely concerned about working with the Latino community.

Democrats “have played out an agenda that says they’re the ones that have the solutions to the problems,” said Rivera, who describes himself as “strong Republican.”

Rivera believes the Democratic Party uses Hispanics and other ethnic groups to its advantage in order to create a minority-friendly image.

“They aren’t working for solutions,” he said. “If they did they’d be out of business. So they throw out proposed solutions and when they fail they blame the Republicans.”

Scott Bofelli, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, says Democrats are committed to Latino needs.

“A lot of Democratic legislators from Milwaukee and Madison are really focused on doing as much as possible to meet the needs of the (Latino) community,” Bofelli said. “The biggest thing that we can do and have done is be involved in the community. We’re involved there 365 days a year. It’s just not every four years when we elect a president.”

Recently the Republican Party of Wisconsin, with the help of Milwaukee multicultural marketing firm Abrazo, unveiled a plan to encourage the Republican party to Hispanics.

“I think parties on both sides are looking at ways to reconnect with the Hispanic community,” said Nancy Hernandez, Abrazo president and vice president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin.

Hernandez suspects that many Hispanics have not fully realized their voting power.

“I think the Hispanics themselves are surprised of being the majority-minority,” she said.

Hernandez believes low voter turnout among Hispanics is not due to any fault by either political party.

“There just aren’t very many Hispanics stepping up to the plate,” Hernandez said. “I don’t think it’s anybody’s fault. It just hasn’t happened.”

Bofelli accused the Republican party of using President Bush’s nomination of Miguel Estrada — which has received opposition from Democrats — to the U.S. Court of Appeals to garner Hispanic support and said his nomination is not really a concern of Hispanics.

“Nobody cares about Estrada in the Latino communities,” Bofelli said.

Rivera disagreed.

“That person is a damn liar,” Rivera said. Estrada “is a gentleman that exactly fits the description of an immigrant that has aspired and lived the American dream. They feel he will be too close as a conservative. My God, the liberals and Democrats are afraid of that.”

The Republican platform holds appeal to all populations, including Latinos, said Rick Wiley, political director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

“The ideals and principles of the Republican party are vast,” Wiley said. “When we talk about family values and education — I think they all appeal to the Latino community.”

Wiley said the Republican party has made efforts in the past to connect with the Hispanic community, but hasn’t always been successful. He is hoping that with Abrazo’s help, the Republican party will be able to better connect with Hispanics.

Bofelli said Republicans are only concerned with earning votes, and look “at Latino voters as voting blocks.”

Wiley called those accusations ridiculous and said the reason why minorities are reluctant to vote Republican is due to stereotypes about the Republican Party.

“That’s all they’ve ever heard,” Wiley said.

Candelaria said, in his opinion, it remains to be seen whether Democrats or Republicans do a better job of working with the Hispanic community.

It’s all about “whose going to come out and do the work,” he said.

Latino political support is becoming an issue in Milwaukee’s 2004 mayoral election.

Pedro Colon recently bowed out of what has become a crowded race to lend his support to Tom Barrett.

Rivera, who is supporting recently-announced candidate Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clark, said the media is making it appear as if Pedro Colon’s support for Barrett will in effect give Barrett the Hispanic community’s support. Rivera said Pedro Colon does not embody the support of the Hispanic community, and if Barrett were to win mayor election it would have “absolutely nothing to do with Predro Colon.”

“They think that because he’s Hispanic he has our vote,” Rivera said. “I think that’s far from the truth.”

Rivera’s “a partisan bureaucrat who is a mouth piece for Republicans,” Pedro Colon said. “The fact is the elected leadership by the Hispanic community is in” the Democratic Party.