SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- The appointing of California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill the vacant Senate seat left by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is historic, but many local leaders say this is just the beginning to bringing significant change.
“First of all, I want to emphasize what a historic moment not just for the Latino community but truly for the entire state of California, for every Californian,” said Magdalena Carrasco, San Jose Councilmember.
“Of course with everything that is happening now in terms of immigration, unemployment, in terms of what's happening with the pandemic the Latino community has been highly impacted and these are going to be the issues that now Senator Padilla will have to truly face head-on once he gets to Washington D.C."
For weeks, Latino leaders throughout the state lobbied extensively for Governor Gavin Newsom to appoint someone within the Latino community.
Back in November, San Jose Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco and the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley held a press conference at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in East San Jose along with dozens of Latino leaders from around the Bay Area calling for representation in Washington.
“For our community it was historic in so many ways, so much of the states population is Latino, so to have a representative that shares that lived experience and that lens in which he approaches policy work and community work was super significant for our community,” said Gabriela Chavez-Lopez, president of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley.
“One of the things that was just really amazing about this whole process of the appointment is just really seeing the statewide Latino community come together as a united force,” Chavez-Lopez added.
“I think with this past election with the presidential election really shook up our community and woke us up and said, 'hey we gotta get involved, we got to share our voices, share our perspective and really come together around issues that are important to us.'”
Over the course of several weeks, California’s Latino politicians, with the help of community leaders, organized in several major cities across the state to ensure the issues Latinos face have a voice to back them up.
Last week, Newsom made history when appointing Padilla as the first-ever Latino senator in the state's 170-year history, at a time when Latinos are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
“Locally the appointment of Alex Padilla to the Senate is a big deal, when you look at San Francisco County for example half of the cases of COVID-19 are among the Latino community, you take those same numbers and it's the same across the board in East San Jose and the Fruitvale neighborhood in Oakland,” said Christian Arana, director of policy for the Latino Community Foundation.
Now, Arana tells KRON4 News Padilla's challenge will be to ensure the needs of millions of Latinos who have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic are actually being heard.
Born to Mexican immigrant parents, Padilla also brings in his life experience to the Senate seat as many expect Padilla to support long-overdue immigration reform.
“When he eventually becomes United States senator formally, he's already said he's going to work with both Democratic and Republican colleagues to fight for more relief.”
“It means more relief for more small businesses in places like Oakland, the Mission District, San Jose, and it means going well beyond the $600 relief check in terms of trying to make sure that we can get more,” Arana added.
“He is keenly going to Washington to make sure he's fighting for a comprehensive immigration reform and to take such a local issue like that and to go to Washington to fight for people that are heavily impacted by this issue of immigration is something that every Bay Area resident should look forward to.”
The newly appointed senator’s first major task will be to guide the country through the coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged low-income communities and communities of color.
Padilla's Senate appointment does not require confirmation by the state Legislature and must win re-election in 2022 to hold onto the seat.
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from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3aUkEh8
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