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| This sign will soon need updating, as Ruben Bermudez moves up to the top post |
Yet
for those of us with an interest in increased Latino political empowerment, it
is events such as what will happen on Tuesday that ought to be of great
significance to all of us.
FOR
THE COMMUNITY in southern New Jersey elected its first Latino ever to the top
post in its municipal government, along with a slate of candidates for City
Council posts aligned with him.
And
no, this isn’t some activist slate. Based solely on a superficial glance at the
names of the slatemembers, this would seem to be a combination of Latinos, Italians
and Greeks who got elected.
A nice ethnic combination that I suspect accurately comprises the people of
Vineland (I’ve never been there, so I don’t know firsthand).
They
all will be sworn in to their new posts during ceremonies to be held Tuesday. A
new year with new public officials who won
a runoff election that was held just a couple of weeks ago.
WHICH
SOUNDS LIKE a nice way to get government off to a fresh start, rather than the
nonsense we’re getting at the federal level where Barack Obama and the new
Congress were elected nearly two months ago, yet we still have remnants of the
old government lingering around to inflict partisan political damage.
Yet
just because I want a sense of variety is not the only reason I’m paying
attention to the municipal political scene in New Jersey (actually, I stumbled
across a story in the Cherry Hill, N.J.-based newspaper purely by accident on
Sunday).
What
catches my attention is that it is the word that Latinos are getting elected to
lower-level posts like this that gives me some sense that our numbers among the
elected officials ranks will grow.
For
these municipal bodies, along with the school boards and park districts and
other often-anonymous entities is where the real governing of our society is
taking place.
AND
WE SHOULDN’T forget that our high-ranking elected officials of today were most likely
the past decade’s anonymous politicos whom nobody outside of their hometown had
ever heard of.
I’m
not saying that I believe is destined for political greatness. Maybe he will
someday move up the ranks. Or maybe he has hit his peak – being mayor of his
hometown.
I
have known many an individual with an interest in electoral politics for whom
that post was their own personal goal and the thought of being one of those “bigwigs”
serving in a state Legislature or in Congress had no attraction.
But
the more Latinos who can get elected to these posts will boost our overall
profile and perception.
BECAUSE
THE PROBLEM Latino activists often have in dealing with local government bodies
is that they’re dealing with individuals whose own backgrounds are not
identical, and who want to believe that the growing Latino population is just
too different from the mass of society.
Try
having a few Latino officials in office when policy decisions are made, and you
will see how quickly the overall government perception gets changed.
Personally,
I have no patience to run for political office. I don’t have the patience to
deal with the often snail-like pace at which public policy advances in the
proper direction for our society. But I certainly get a kick out of seeing one
of my ethnic brethren getting a chance to show what he can do.
Because
let’s face it, even if you do have some sort of ethnic hang-up that makes you
want to believe that a Latino public official just can’t do the job, do you
really believe anything can be more inept than the public officials/buffoons
who got us to the point we’re in now?
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