June 11, 1999
By Daniel H. Muñoz
Vice President Albert Gore and Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson will address Latino elected and appointed officials at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials' (NALEO) 16h Annual Conference to be held in Philadelphia, PA June 17-19, 1999.
Vice President Gore is scheduled to speak at the Keynote Luncheon on Saturday, June 19. Secretary Richardson is scheduled to deliver the Opening Keynote Address on Friday June 18.
The theme for this year's conference is "We the people ... Nosotros el pueblo." Workshops and areas of discussion will include the year 2000 Census counting, fundraising and organizing skills for successful campaigns, education reform, survey of the political status of Puerto Rico, "hands on" experience in dealing with the media to name a few.
Governor Davis Appoints Alvarado to top post of the California Dept. of Veterans Affairs
Gov. Gray Davis announced the appointment of Tomas Alvarado as secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA), filling recently held by James Ramos.
Prior to his appointment as secretary, Alvarado, 52, of San Gabriel, served as under-secretary of CDVA.
A combat veteran, Alvarado served 19 months in South Vietnam and was wounded twice during the 1968 Tet Offensive while serving with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines. In all he participated in 16 major combat operations, he was awarded two Purple Hearts, the Navy Unit Commendation with combat "V" device for valor and heroic action, Navy Achievement Medial with combat "V" device, Combat Action Ribbon, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Ribbon, Vietnam Service Medal with six battle stars, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with "60" device and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with palm device.
While serving with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, Alvar-ado's unit received the Presidential, Meritorious and Navy Unit Citations for heroic actions against North Vietnamese ground troops and engagements.
Alvarado's appointment needs Senate confirmation.
Alatorre Honored
Boyle Heights -- On the verge of retiring from political office Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre was honored Monday, June 7, by local business and community leaders for three decades of work.
Alatorre received a boxing championship-style belt from 1984 Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzales, while the crowd chanted `you're the people's champion." Alatorre was visibly moved by the show of affection from the people.
Speaker Villaraigosa In Trouble?
While the Democratically controlled
state Assembly pushed through a backlog of legislation before
the deadline this past Monday without much fanfare, while
the Republicans sat back and watched, with the exception of legislation
carried by Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa.
After hours of debate the Assembly rejected the gay rights legislation barring discrimination against homosexual students and teachers in public schools, as eight moderate Democrats, including a number of suburban and rural Latinos, deserted the leadership. And the previous week this same loose knit coalition of moderates forced Villaraigosa to back away from the malpractice legislation he had carried, Villaraigosa was able to win Democratice caucus apporoval only for a token cost-of-living increase in the cap on pain and suffering awards in medical malpractice cases, not the doubling or tripling that lawyers had sought.
Both of these setbacks were embarrassing, in particular after Villaraigosa had predicted victory for the gay rights legislation. Much of the blame was placed on Villaraigosa's lack of attention to the details, not talking with the moderate Democrats in his caucus, and with this heavy handness in his efforts to control certain committees by abruptly replacing members of some panels -- to assure passage of key bills.
The loose knit group of moderate Democratics, whose informal leader is Merced's Dennis Cardoza, felt they were being put at risk by the liberal speaker in their conservative districts.
With term limits soon to turn out Villaraigosa and with his preoccupation with his pending Los Angeles mayoral bid, momentum is building to have him step down early as Speaker so that a new leader can concentrate on raising money for the Democrats in Sacramento and with the 2000 census looming, to work toward build their party's majority.
Gov Davis' Education Commitment Questioned
Governor Davis' mantera during his first 100 days has been that education is his "first, second and third" priority. However his new budget doesn't appear to do as much for education as Republican Wilson's last budget did.
By law at least 40 percent of the state's general fund be directed to kindergarten through high school, plus community colleges, except in times of fiscal austerity. In the last year of Gov. Wilson's term he had a $4.4 billion surplus and devoted $500 million beyond the minimum guaranteed to education. This year Davis has a $4.3 billion surplus and yet he only devoted $100 million to education beyond the minimum.
Governor Davis' press secretary, Michale Bustamante, stated that "We'll see Wil-son's $500 million and raise him $100 million." He added that the $500 million from Wilson automatically gets built into the "base" from which the 40 percent comes.
Meanwhile Phil Trounstine, Davis' communications director, cited Davis' four education reform bills, now law, as proof of his commitment to education. Neverthless, California still spends roughly $1,000 per student below the national average in money spent on education. Other prosperous states have more than matched California's efforts in recent years, keeping the state in the bottom 25 percent in spending among the 50 states.
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