Hispanic leaders see political opportunity

Erin Neff

Friday, March 26, 1999 | 10:59 a.m.

Las Vegas -- The Meadows -- may have been named by the Spanish, but a Hispanic person has never been elected to the City Council.

A question on the June 1 ballot for the municipal elections, however, is creating optimism within the Hispanic community that the political demographics may change.

The question, recommended by the Council Review Committee, will ask voters if they favor increasing the City Council by two seats. The committee met for several months last year and concluded, among other things, that the city should have six wards instead of four.

The City Council decided to put the question on the ballot and is expected to pass an ordinance making the voters' decision binding.

Additionally, the City Council decided that the supporting arguments for the question should not mention that two more seats might increase the chances for a minority to get elected.

Although original wording contained that statement, the council ultimately decided that two more seats carry no guarantee of increased minority representation. As a result, the board struck that wording rather than be misleading.

Nevertheless, some Hispanic Las Vegans say they hope the question passes because they think any change in wards could help increase ethnic representation on the council.

"I support any change to the council that would give us a better chance for election," said Rosa Jimenez, who lives in Ward 3, whose population in the 1990 Census was 18.2 percent Hispanic, highest in the city.

She moved to Las Vegas five years ago from Southern California, where she had grown accustomed to dealing with elected officials who shared her heritage and language.

Jimenez, 52, attends Spanish Mass at St. Anne's Catholic Church on Maryland Parkway and buys groceries at a small Spanish market. She is known for helping Spanish-speaking neighbors understand the city around them.

"I'm not saying that white people can't represent us, it's just that it would be nice to see us have a better say," Jimenez said.

Otto Merida, executive director of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, said, "Of course we support the expansion. It will give us a better shot of electing people from the different ethnic groups."

Frank Canales, who runs Happy Tours Agencia Multiservicios, a travel agency and tax preparation office at Bonanza and Eastern avenues, also favors expanding the City Council.

"I heard the committee's report and I think it's a good idea to have that opportunity," Canales, who is a leader among Salvadorans who have moved to Las Vegas, said. "We need to establish a relationship we never had and open a channel of communication between our community and the city of Las Vegas."

Canales said he is not disappointed with the city's elected leaders, who are all white. "It isn't about race," he said.

Gary Reese, the councilman who represents Ward 3, agrees.

"I think you can look at Dario Herrera's election (in November) to the County Commission in a predominantly all-white district to see that you're looking at the person, not the color or race," Reese said.

The 1990 Census counted 82,904 Hispanics in Clark County, with 17,627 living in Ward 3 and a total of 31,249 living throughout the city of Las Vegas. Planners estimate that the county's Hispanic population is now 188,000 -- a 127 percent increase.

Although no one will know for sure until the 2000 Census, planners are confident in saying the city's Hispanic population has jumped proportionately, to about 71,000.

But part of the difficulty in electing a Hispanic person is the diversity within the Hispanic community, Canales points out.

Residents of Mexican, Salvadoran, South American, Cuban and Puerto Rican descent often live, work and exist in separate communities, with different concerns, and not as a cohesive "Hispanic" group, he said.

"We need a more united effort among all Latino organizations in town to find leaders that would identify with the overall community's needs," Canales said.

Fernando Romero, president of Hispanics in Politics and a member of the Council Review Committee, said many local Hispanics fled countries where democracy wasn't the form of government and they're not used to participating in the political process.

"Those who took part in political activity in their native land find it difficult to understand that their vote counts here," Romero said. "It is simply up to us as the leaders of the Hispanic community, and the leaders of the community in general, to register everyone who wants to vote."

There is reason for optimism, Romero said, pointing to Herrera's election last year, the campaigns by two Hispanics for seats on the North Las Vegas City Council, and the campaign for Las Vegas mayor now being waged by Cruz Olague.

Also, a study by the International City Managers Association has found that cities with more than 1 million in population have a greater likelihood for all minorities to be elected.

In cities of 1 million or more residents, the councils are apt to have black representation of 40 percent and Hispanic and Asian representation of 10 percent, according to the study by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group.

Although the city of Las Vegas isn't expected to top 1 million for 20 years, the county is projected to reach 1.9 million in 2010 and 2.5 million in 2020.

In addition to the growth, Romero believes Hispanics have age and energy on their side -- the average age of Hispanics in Las Vegas is 24.

"This young population is beginning to develop an increasing thirst for political know-how," Romero said.

He said that increasing the size of the council would benefit all residents because each council member would have fewer constituents in their jurisdictions.

The city's current 448,244 population leaves each council member with 112,000 constituents on average. That average would drop to 77,000 if the measure passes.

Most of the city's growth, however, is in the northwest, Ward 4, which the 1990 Census revealed was only 6.3 percent Hispanic and 6.5 percent black. It is for this reason that the City Council struck words from the ballot question suggesting that one advantage of two more wards would be increased chances for minority representation.

"I think there are things (adding two seats) will accomplish," said Leonard Goodall, a UNLV professor of public administration who served on the Council Review Committee. "But I think you'd have to increase the size to about 10 to 15 members for minorities to have any greater chance of election."

For Merida, however, there's another way to achieve that greater chance.

"It doesn't matter if we're 20 percent, or 40 percent or 50 percent of the population," he said. "We have to make sure that we become good citizens and vote."