LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa goes to Washington

by Kay Barbaro

TWO QUESTIONS: When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came to the capitolio last week, Hispanic Link took advantage of his visit to broach two questions that are on the minds of some politically involved Latinos in the City of the Angels.

The questions had been raised back home but the City Hall responses were either unclear or evasive, or maybe the questions were not framed precisely enough. So we tried our hand. First José de la Isla, the Link’s lead syndicated columnist, asked Villaraigosa if he planned to join in the May 1 march to City Hall in protesting workplace raids and supporting immigration reform.

The mayor’s answer: “I have a long history of advocacy on behalf of immigrants. I’ve always felt from my days as a high school student I had an obligation to speak for these people. But I don’t feel I need to be at every demonstration to do that. I didn’t attend the last May first event and I don’t expect that I’ll attend this one.” No se enojen, guys. José’s just the messenger.

Then Link publisher Charlie Ericksen asked if the mayor supported having the U.S. Department of Justice take action against the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to redraw the lines for its five elective districts. Latinos comprise about half of the county’s ten million residents. The present lines overload one district — where Gloria Molina has served since 1991 — with Hispanics and spread the rest at about 20% each in the other four, safe for incumbents.

The mayor’s response: “I have been dealing with it of late. I was involved in the MALDEF/ACLU lawsuit that helped create a district where a Latino could get elected. Gloria Molina is a good friend of mine. I supported her campaign...I’m here today because of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. I support it and to the extent that the Department of Justice determines that the Voting Rights Act requires that there be a second district where a Latino has a viable opportunity to get elected. I think it’s great. Whatever the Justice Department does, the California legislature will vindicate the Voting Rights Act in a couple years and I am certainly looking forward to that. It’s an important issue of representation as old as the founding of this country.”

For more, visit www.hispaniclink.org.