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HAAB Minutes 05/27/1999 Minutes Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board Meeting May 27, 1999 " HISPANIC AFFAIRS ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES OF MEETING of May 27, 1999 at the Golden Gate Community Center, Naples, Florida PRESENT: ABSENT: Frank Rodriguez, Chairman, HAAB Pete Cade, HAAB Member Frank Loney, HAAB Member Faye Reddick, HAAB Member Maria Grimaldo, HAAB Member Ramiro Mafialich, Chief Assistant County Attorney and HAAB Staff Liaison Member Dora Vidaurri, HAAB Member David Correa, HAAB Member Also Present: Chris Bent, Applicant Leo R. Cardona, Applicant Russ Reddick, General Public Victor Valdes, Las Naciones Anthony Bove', Knights of Columbus Ralph Balzarano, Knights of Columbus The May 27, 1999 meeting of the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board of Collier County (HAAB) commenced at approximately 7:15 P.M. There was a quorum of five (5) in attendance. A motion was made by Frank Loney to approve the minutes of the April 22, 1999 meeting with corrections and attachments. Pete Cade seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous to approve. Regarding the minutes of the April 29, 1999 joint meeting with the Black Affairs Advisory Board, Mr. Valdes mentioned that the minutes had omitted his comments. Mr. Valdes indicated that he would send a summary of his comments to be included. Frank Loney suggested that approval of the April 29, 1999 minutes should be deferred so that Mr. Valdes' comments could be included. Chairman Rodriguez agreed. Ramiro Mafialich read for the record the resignation letter of member Dr. Kate Warner. The Board briefly discussed the absences of Maria Grimaldo for the April 22, 1999 and April 29, 1999 HAAB meetings. Regarding the April 22, 1999 meeting, Frank Loney made a motion to declare that absence excused and there was a second by Faye Reddick. The motion was unanimous in favor of the motion. Frank Loney also made a motion to approve, as excused, the absence of April 29, 1999, and Faye Reddick also seconded this motion. The vote was unanimous to approve the motion. Discussions With HAAB Applicants The Board was informed by Ramiro Mafialich that Frank Loney, Janie Soliz, Christopher Bent and Leo Cardona had all applied to become members of the HAAB. Ramiro Mafialich also informed the Board that Janie Soliz had withdrawn from consideration due to reasons of illness. Mr. Bent had only turned in his application to the Board office a couple of days before. Faye Reddick asked Frank Loney ifhe was interested in continuing to serve on the HAAB given his valuable participation in other community organizations. Frank Loney responded that there are many significant Hispanic issues before the HAAB and that he is willing to serve in more than one organization. Ramiro Mafialich opined that there should not be a conflict for Frank Loney to serve on the HAAB in addition to his voter registration activities. Pete Cade made a motion to reappoint Frank Loney for another term on the HAAB and the motion was seconded by Faye Reddick. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion. Chairman Rodriguez requested that Leo Cardona provide a statement to the Board regarding his application. Mr. Cardona commented that he had recently moved and registered to vote in Collier County. He said that he felt he owed a civic responsibility to Collier County and in particular to make voters that are Hispanic more aware of community issues. He said that he would be willing to donate his time and participate fully with the HAAB. He described that he is involved in graduate studies and his background in California. He described a variety of prior cultural experiences. Faye Reddick made a motion to recommend appointment of Leo Cardona which was seconded by Pete Cade and Frank Loney. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion. Frank Rodriguez read a letter by Mr. Bent in regard to his application for membership. Frank pointed out that Mr. Bent had been referred to the HAAB by Father Felix Alarcon. Mr. Bent stated that he wished to participate on the HAAB because he cares. He said he had recently moved to Collier County. He described his background as being a Yale graduate and prior Navy Seal. He says he has a history of prior civic involvement including the St. Matthew's House and the lmmokalee farm workers. He has been involved in the ministry with the poor of Naples. He said he had many ideas for improvement of conditions in the Hispanic and minority community. He particularly thought there should be a day of welcome for seasonal farm workers and there needs to be a housing facility for the farm workers in Naples like the Pueblo Bonito which is in Lee County. 2 Faye Reddick made a motion to approve a recommendation of Mr. Bent for membership on the Hispanic Board. A second was provided by Maria Grimaldo and the vote was unanimous in favor of the motion. English As Official Language Resolution Frank Rodriguez mentioned the prior letter of the Metro-Dade Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board and a new letter which had been received from the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in opposition to the Collier County Board of County Commissioners Resolution regarding English as the Official Language. Frank mentioned that he had drafted a resolution for the Board of County Commissioners to approve. He said a letter of opposition to the English language Resolution had also been prepared by the Gulf Coast Latin Chamber of Commerce. Frank Rodriguez passed out the draft resolution which he had prepared for inclusion in the minutes. He stated that he had met with several Commissioners about this topic and that he expected that this draft resolution would be presented at a future Board of County Commissioners meeting. He thought this was a great opportunity for a resolution proclaiming the values of diversity. He stated that prior diversity initiatives of the County had not been affective. He stated that the concept of diversity reaches across all races and nationalities and minority groups. Frank Loney stated that he supported the Frank Rodriguez draft resolution. He stated that he was still upset with the Board of County Commissioners for not consulting with the HAAB on the English language issue. He thought that Commissioner Carter should retract his prior comments about English as the official language. Ralph Balzarano commented that media reports indicated that the reason for the English language resolution was for economic savings but that he considered that to be a very weak reason for passage of the resolution. Mr. Valdes stated that he supported the draft new diversity resolution but that he still believed there are a number of anti-Hispanic and minority issues in existence in Collier County, such as the Dr. Cardona episode, and the controversies regarding School Superintendent Dan White and County Administrator Robert Fernandez. He stated that there are still white racist groups in the United States and that Commissioner Carter, perhaps by mistake, was falling in with those groups. He suggested that all Hispanics remain strongly opposed, within the law, to the English as the official language Resolution. Frank Rodriguez commented that the English only Resolution is a topic which will not go away. Leo Cardona suggested that the HAAB needed to be respectfully emphatic and state reasons against the English only Resolution such as a revenue brought into Collier County by different cultures. He thought that the Resolution was oppressive to the different multiple cultures in Collier County. 3 Ralph Balzarano suggested that there should be follow up with regard to the implementation of a new diversity resolution. A motion was made to support the Resolution concept to the Board of County Commissioners by Pete Cade. A second was made by Faye Reddick and the vote was unanimous in favor of the motion, Frank Rodriguez would communicate, by letter, the HAAB's support of the diversity resolution concept to the Board of County Commissioners. Anthony Bove' invited Hispanics to participate in the Columbus Day Parade. A copy of a letter on the subject is attached as a part of these minutes. He requested that the HAAB members spread the news about the Parade. He said he was trying to include diverse groups in the Parade. The HAAB consensus was to defer the Chairperson election until the next meeting. Faye Reddick suggested that meetings in lmmokalee be the subject of discussion at the next meeting. Also for the next meeting it was decided to take up the matter of the School Board Diversity Liaison selection. Mr. Valdes also requested to be placed on the agenda at the next meeting regarding the investigation of the Collier County Sheriff by the Office of the Governor. Maria Grimaldo also asked to be placed on the agenda regarding a letter about the School Board. The meeting of the Hispanic Board adjourned at approximately 9:05 P.M. Prepared by: Ramiro Mafialich, Board Liaison Approved by the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board on 24th Day of June, 1999. Frank R Hispanic ~. 4 --------_-........-.~-