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The CLAC Community and Research Fellow Experience

By: David Echeverry, CLAC Intern

The Latino community in Minnesota is the state’s fastest growing ethnic group. Today the Latino community in Minnesota is comprised of approximately 205,000 residents. In recent years the state has seen a growth of 166 percent, increasing from 54,000 to 143,000 Latino residents, making them an influential and integral part of Minnesota’s economy and culture, both in the Twin Cities metro area and in Greater Minnesota.

Given this significant impact on the state, I strongly believe in the need for participating and engaging in public service and community outreach in an effort to continue achieving a better future for the Latino community, specifically putting an emphasis on key topics such as education, health, housing, immigration and economic development. Therefore, having the chance to work as the Community and Research Fellow at CLAC is an opportunity I could not miss.

CLAC, as the agency in charge of advising and educating the Governor and the Legislature about key issues for Chicano Latinos, is the appropriate place to learn about the legislative process and the impact of proposed and new legislation in our community. As an intern, I have had (and will have) the opportunity to participate in the logistics of important events, such as CLAC's 30th anniversary and the upcoming Legislative Day at the Capitol on January 21st, 2009. Additionally, I have participated in research projects intended to compile relevant information to be used in the proposal of new bills that will benefit the Chicano Latino community around the state.

Being an intern at CLAC has reaffirmed the importance of the Latino community around the state and the country, the relevance and materiality of the involvement of the members of the community, and has provided me with a good opportunity to network and work hand in hand with members of the Latino community committed to educating and advising influential people in Minnesota.

Thus, I would encourage members of the Latino community to participate in future internship opportunities with the agency. As a CLAC intern, participants would be able to use their knowledge and talents in a highly professional setting. Interns would be given the opportunity to acquire new skills and gain further knowledge of the political process, engage in a variety of duties essential to the political and advocacy process, perform research, monitor bills and report to the executive and legislative directors, in addition to assisting with contacting members of the community in order to keep building a better future for Chicano Latinos in Minnesota through public service.

Director's Column: CLAC 30th Anniversary Reflections

By: Rogelio Munoz, Executive Director

Just over a month ago, the Chicano Latino Affairs Council welcomed over 550 Latino community members and leaders, public officials, former council members and staff, and other guests from across the state of Minnesota to recognize and celebrate CLAC’s 30th anniversary of public service to the Latino community. Almost an entire year went into the planning and preparation for the CLAC 30th Anniversary Dinner, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown St. Paul. The dinner event featured the council’s work and 2009 legislative agenda, a historic video production saluting Latino Minnesotans, and a keynote address by Olga Viso, the new director of the Walker Art Center. John Croman of KARE 11 was the master of ceremonies. All in all, the event proved to be one of the most successful and largest single gatherings of Minnesotanos in modern state history.

According to Jose Trejo, CLAC’s first executive director in 1978, “I had always wished during my years as executive director of the council of having such an event to bring together Latinos from all over the state.”

The CLAC 30th Anniversary Dinner, Minnesotanos…A Cornerstone of Minnesota’s Future, was held during the 2008 Hispanic Heritage Month to recognize a milestone in Latino Minnesota history. It allowed the council to showcase its work and rich history of Latinos in Minnesota. For over three decades, the Chicano Latino Affairs Council, formerly the Spanish Speaking Affairs Council has worked with the community to advise the governor and legislature on Latino-related issues in Minnesota. Through this legislative role and representation of the Latino community at the state level, CLAC has worked to capture the Latino voice and ensure that public policy and legislation in Minnesota benefits and empowers the community.

The anniversary dinner also provided an opportunity for the council to present its 2009 CLAC Legislative Agenda, as well as to inform and address guests and colleagues of the council’s work, both in the community and on the legislative front. CLAC Member Nick Juarez delivered the CLAC legislative agenda and priorities on health care and education for the 2009 Legislative Session. Juarez, who represents Minnesota’s 4th congressional district, also informed dinner guests of CLAC’s work. For over two years, the council has engaged Latino communities statewide through enhanced civic engagement methods. In an effort to better identity social issues and challenges that face Latinos, CLAC has hosted over 15 community forums and focus groups to obtain valuable data for research, analysis, and legislative positioning.

Another highlight of the evening was the Salute to Minnesota, a video production produced by Marco Polo Advertising. The video was a first of its kind in Minnesota to recognize the rich cultural fabric of the state’s Latino community. With the help of the Minnesota Historical Society and longtime Latino community members, the video featured the history of Minnesotanos. It retraced the state’s first Hispanic/Latino roots ranging from Luis Garzón, Minneapolis’ first recorded Mexican settler to migrant workers from the American Southwest and Mexico who settled and developed the historic Latino community in St. Paul’s Westside.

The Salute to Minnesota also included a second segment where it recognized 10 Latino or Latino-serving agencies and seven individuals from across the state that work on council related policy issues, such in immigration, health, economic development, housing, and education. The agencies featured in the video were Centro Legal, Joyce Preschool, Neighborhood Development Alliance, Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, HACER, West Side Community Health Services, Worthington Community Action, and Neighborhood House. Some of the individuals featured in the video were Miguel Garate (Austin), Ramona A. de Rosales (St. Paul), Nelson Peralta (Minneapolis), Lupe Quintero (Mankato), Nelson Bonilla (Worthington), and Larry Lucio (Minneapolis).

Delivering the keynote address for the evening was Olga Viso, Director of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Joining the ranks of many top curators and scholars in the art world, Viso is a newcomer to Minnesota’s Latino community and is one of the first Latinas in the country to lead a major cultural institution. During her keynote address, she acknowledged that during her short time in the state, she has been able to recognize the economic and social contributions that Latinos have made to the state.

Further, Viso emphasized the evolution and continued growth of Latinos in Minnesota and the impact it will have on the state’s economic future. As Viso concluded her address, she noted that art has always been a powerful agent in our culture. “It can bring about mutual understanding, awareness, and change,” Viso continued. “The most powerful art challenges us to examine our values and assumptions, and to continually question the world in which we live and how we contribute to its evolution.” Viso stressed that our time now is more important than ever to examine the world and be the influence and change we want to see.

The CLAC 30th Anniversary Dinner concluded with a recognition award to longtime and former CLAC Chairman Heladio Zavala. Zavala, who represented Minnesota’s 6th congressional district served on the council from 1999 to 2007.

For pictures of the CLAC 30th Anniversary Dinner, please go to the CLAC website at www.clac.state.mn.us. A clip of the Salute to Minnesota will be featured on the website in early December 2008.

The Impact of the General Election on Minnesota's Latino Agenda

Rosa Tock, Legislative Director

It is very well known by now that Latinos/as voted overwhelmingly for Democrats Barak Obama and Joe Biden over Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin in this month’s presidential election. Numerous press articles, and a recent Pew Hispanic Center survey based on CNN exit polls, address the increasing participation of the Latino vote in the country - its share of the national vote grew from 8% in 2004 to 9%- and how it played a significant role as a voting bloc during this historic presidential election. According to the Pew report, 67% of Latinos/as voted for the Democratic ticket versus 31% Republican. However, Mark Hugo Lopez from Pew, indicates that on average, only 47 percent of registered Latino voters participated in the election -- 10 percent less than the white population.

Some traditional Republican states where Latinos accounted for 40% of the vote for George W. Bush in the 2004 elections, shifted dramatically to favor the Democratic presidential nominee. In Florida 44% of Latinos supported John Kerry in 2004 compared to 57% who supported Barak Obama this year. Obama’s margins were bigger in other states like New Jersey (78%), Nevada (76%), California (74%), Colorado (73%), and Illinois (72%). Other states where Democrats secured significant Latino support were New Mexico (69%), Texas (63%), and Arizona (56%).

Many analysts conclude that race was not an issue for Latino voters but that other factors influenced this shift from the Republican to the Democratic ticket, among them the economic downturn but also the anti-immigrant discourse used by Republican candidates (1). Lionel Sosa, a long-standing adviser to many Republican presidential campaigns, pointed out a "damaged Republican brand", noting that discontent with the war, low approval ratings for President Bush, and Latino dismay over the tone of the debate in the Republican primaries over immigration policy drove Latinos from the party.

So, how will the elections impact Minnesota and how will the results affect the growing Latino population in the state during the next decades? Given the small sample of Latino voters, it has not been possible to determine yet the percentage who voted Democratic, although we know, based on the CNN exit polls, that they comprised 3% of the total vote, the same proportion as African Americans. Some analysts suggest that Minnesota Latinos favored president-elect Obama at the same ratio as in the nation, roughly 2 to 1.

According to a post-electoral analysis by local Republican strategist Vin Weber at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, the GOP needs to work harder in the future to reach out to Latinos and close the gap. His concern stems in part in the fact that party loyalties start building at a young age and these elections might contribute to long term Latino support for Democrats. More recently, during the National Republican Governors meeting in Miami, Governor Tim Pawlenty contributed to the GOP’s self assessment by also acknowledging that the Republicans must win more support among women, Latinos, and blacks given the cultural, demographic, technological and economical changes in the nation.

Although the Latino vote in Minnesota is still small compared to other states, what happens at the national level has a trickledown effect in local politics. In addition, the same issues that affect Latinos at the national level also have resonance in the state. A variety of national organizations prioritize policies aiming at improving the socio economic situation of Latinos, finding ways to fix the immigration system and stressing other civil rights issues. One of the most comprehensive Latino agendas, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda addresses six main issues areas, similar to the ones addressed by CLAC: Education, Civil Rights, Immigration, Economic Empowerment, Health, and Government Accountability. In the next months and years it is expected that a broader discussion about these and other issues in Minnesota will take place, particularly around the unsolved immigration policies at the federal and state levels.

In Minnesota, there were not that many surprises in these mid-term elections with the DFL widening their majority in the House of Representatives. However, early speculations about their chances to increase their seats for a veto proof majority fell short as the big presidential political momentum did not necessarily translate into a super majority in the House for Democrats. The DFLers added six new members but lost three seats, falling short of the 90 seats needed to override a veto. The final numbers will be certified by the State Canvassing Board in late November but the split in the House now seems to be 87 DFLers and 47 Republicans. So when the 86th Legislative Session convenes on January 6, 2009, the House will see 23 new members, 12 Republicans and 11 DFLers. The elected DFL members of the Minnesota House of Representatives again chose Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Mpls) as speaker–designate and Rep. Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) as their majority leader. Rep. Marty Seifert (R-Marshall) was reelected to lead the House Republican caucus during the 2009-2010 legislative session.

In terms of demographics composition, particularly Latino representation, in the House of Representatives, we are left with only one Latino legislator, Carlos Mariani (DFL-65B), although the number of representatives of color stayed the same, 4 out of 134 or 3%. In terms of female representation, the Office on the Economic Status of Women reported that Women were elected to hold 43 seats (32.1%), the same share obtained after the 2006 elections. Regarding the estimated voter turnout, Minnesota increased participation by one point, from 77 to 78% which continues to be one of highest voter participation rates in the nation.

As for the Congressional districts, DFLers and Republicans retained the same number of seats (5 and 3 respectively), with the re-election of Tim Waltz (DFL-1), John Kline (R-2), Betty McCollum (DFL-4), Keith Ellison (DFL-5), Michele Bachmann (R-6), Collin Peterson (DFL-7), James Oberstar (DFL-8), and the election of Erik Paulsen (R-3), replacing Republican Jim Ramstad who announced his retirement earlier this year.

As for Minnesota’s U.S. Senate, the Secretary of State Mark Richie officially announced a recount of votes on November 18, 2008. According to Minnesota state law, a recount is automatically triggered in races where the margin is less than one-half of one percent. On November 6, a slim margin of 475 votes favored Republican candidate and incumbent Senator Norm Coleman over Democratic challenger Al Franken. As of November 23, approximately two thirds of Minnesota's precincts have finished their recount of ballots and Sen. Coleman continued leading his Democratic challenger by about 180 votes.

At the end of this historic election, Minnesota mirrors the national demographic and electoral landscape. Both urban and rural areas are trending Democratic and the Latino population is growing in all regions of the state and the nation. In that sense, the newly elected representatives in the House, whether Republican or DFL, need to acknowledge and represent a significant Latino constituency and CLAC will be there to assist them in this important task.

(1) In 2007, a survey by the Pew Hispanic Center, Hispanics and the 2008 Election: A Swing Vote? showed that Latinos were shifting preference from the Republican to the Democratic party mainly due to their perception that Democrats show more concern for Latinos and do a better job on the issue of illegal immigration. The same report found that Latinos believed that the policies of the Bush Administration had been more harmful than helpful to Latinos.

The summer and fall of 2008 is a busy time for community affairs. In May 2008, CLAC had began a summer community engagement initiative in collaboration with our Latino partner agency, HACER (Hispanic Advocacy and Community Engagement Through Research). CLAC’s aim in this partnership was to both designing research instruments and facilitating community focus groups on Latino health access. Our goals in creating these research instruments were threefold. First, CLAC aimed to capture the voices of the Latino community in the area of health access through an identification of common root challenges. Next, CLAC engaged health experts in compiling recommendations which would directly benefit Latino patients. Thirdly, CLAC calls upon Latino agencies and community members to directly engage the legislature on the issue of health through issues briefs, fact sheets and legislative participation.

The first of our community engagement, the Latino health access survey, was launched in June through an online survey site. This instrument targeted statewide experts who served or directly worked with Latino patients in the areas mental and physical health. We are happy to report that this survey was one of the first in its kind in Minnesota, receiving over 96 responses, (this number represents a 46% of total survey invitations). Most of the information returned originated in the expertise of community health workers, nurses, case workers and public health officials. Survey input focused on identifying root causes of health access disparities in health insurance coverage for Latinos (identified by 78% of respondents as the primary challenge), communication barriers both in language and in the health system (59% identified this as the second root cause), and the extraordinary cost of health care in Minnesota (53%).

While the Latino health access survey was underway, CLAC and HACER convened eight focus groups in the metro area and in Greater Minnesota. In coding and identifying the data presented by the 70 focus group participants, CLAC staff identified four themes defined by the Latino voice as the root causes of health disparities. These themes include accessing and navigating the health system, communication and awareness of health services, accessing quality health services and immigration status.

From this summer’s community engagement, CLAC staff prepared both a fact sheet and an issues brief detailing both CLAC research and other data on Latino health access. These findings represent the voice of the Latino community. As our next steps, CLAC is preparing to transmit this voice to the state legislators through a Latino Legislative Day at the Capitol to be held on January 21, 2009 at the Minnesota state Capitol Rotunda from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. noon. Come and be a part of Minnesota Latino history as we share one voice in making change for Minnesota Latinos in the areas of health and education! The 2009 Legislative Day at the Capitol will include meetings with legislators, presentations by experts, exhibitions by health and education agencies and time for networking with other Latino leaders and community members. To register up, please go to the CLAC homepage or call Oscar Echandi at (651) 284-3035.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A first-generation Mexican-American and graduate of Albert Lea High School, it did not take long before Jose Trejo knew he wanted to.serve those that needed help and give back to the community. In a recent interview with CLAC staff after the attending the CLAC 30th anniversary dinner,.Trejo described the event as a dream come true. He gladly shared some of his.best memories in setting the foundation for the future work of the Chicano Latino.Affairs Council.

Newly graduated out Mankato State University with a degree in education, Trejo first taught in Red Wing High School until 1969 when he relocated to the Twin Cities as the Director of Human Resource Development for the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce. For the next seven years, Trejo served to connect legislative members, city council and business leaders with the growing Latino community.

This training served him well as Trejo collaborated with others in creating the first Latino governmental agency in Minnesota. In 1977, during the last months of Wendell Anderson’s last term as Minnesota governor, challenged by the growing needs Latino migrant workers and immigrants, Jose Trejo worked with Marilyn Vigil, Alfredo Gonzales, Eustolio Benavides and legislators Senator William McCutcheon (St. Paul’s former Chief of Police) and Representative Robert Pavlak in creating and passing Minnesota statute M.S.3.9223. This statute enabled the creation of the Spanish Speaking Affairs Council for the State of Minnesota, which was overseen by a council membeship or board of both Minnesotan Mexican-Americans and Puerto Ricans. Arturo Rivera served as the first SSAC Chair in 1978.

The role of the Council as envisioned by Trejo remains largely unchanged today, namely, to advise and educate both the Minnesota governor and legislature about the unique challenges and contributions of the Minnesotan Latino community in the policy areas of health, housing, education and economic development.

During his tenure at the Spanish Speaking Affairs Council, Trejo’s work included the publication of the first Latino policy paper in Minnesota in 1978 (Latinos in Minnesota) and the first statewide Latino conference in 1980 (Somos Uno, Somos Familia) hosted at the Holiday Inn (now the Kelly Inn) near the state Capitol. These early conference successes were followed by the first Minnesota Latina Women’s Conference in 1981 (Un Primer Paso), and 1982 (Un Paso Más).

The primary purpose of these early Latino gatherings was the organizing and leadership development of the first Latino advocacy groups in Minnesota’s history. Some of these groups included the Hispanic Women’s Development Corporation founded by Sandy Vargas, the current president of the Minneapolis Foundation.

While Trejo’s work at the Capitol played an integral role in defining early Minnesota Latino public policy, Trejo’s desire was to continue developing the capacity and voice of Latinos in Minnesota. In collaboration with the College of St. Catherine, the College of St. Thomas and the Minnesota Hispanic Education Partnership, and financial support from Honeywell which provided scientific and technical scholarships.

When Jose Trejo left the Spanish Speaking Affairs Council in the 1991, he had added capacity, work processes, voice and leadership through his thirteen years of service to the Council and to the Latino voice in public policy. Today, Trejo serves as an organizational management consultant and co-chair of the Minnesota Human Anti-Trafficking task force, as well as a consultant to the Farm Service Agency for the Department of Agriculture.

Help us congratulate Jose Trejo for being this edition's Un Orgullo Minnesotano!

Note: Gladys Rodriguez, CLAC Administrative Assistant is absent on maternity leave. For this issue, we asked Sylvia Gonzales Castro, our temporary Administrative Assistant, for her favorite meal in the cold weather. She provided us with an easy to make stew, simmered in a spicy coconut-milk broth. Sylvia recommends sautéeing the tofu in roasted-peanut oil until golden and crisp adds both flavor and texture. It's delicious!

Preparation
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add leeks; sauté 3 minutes. Add ginger, serrano, and garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Stir in soy sauce, curry, and sugar. Add water, squash, salt, and coconut milk; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes.

¡El Minnesotano! E-Newsletter, Fall 2008

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