NUESTRAVOICE.COM FACT AND OPINION

FACT:

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) will convene today for the first time since the resignation of Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez from its membership. Certainly a topic on today’s agenda will be a discussion on how to keep the caucus from disintegrating.

Reliable and confirmed sources tell Nuestravoice.com that Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard , whose venerable father the Honorable Congressman Ed Roybal founded the CHC, has met with Latina caucus members in an attempt to broker a resolution to the current crisis. Roybal-Allard is to meet or has met with male caucus members who have expressed concern about the current state of affairs one of those members’ staffers has told Nuestravoice.com and was just confirmed by another reliable Capitol Hill source.

Latino community leaders quietly speculate that the most obvious resolution to the current crisis is for Congressman Joe Baca to resign his Chairmanship of the CHC.

Nuestravoice.com can confirm that the sense that the CHC is an institution that gives its female members short shrift is not limited to Congresswoman Sanchez. Sources close to the CHC have confirmed through sources involved that at least 3 other Latina members are anywhere from concerned to incensed about what is described as “systemic” problems within the CHC that marginalize its women members.

OPINION:

As I spoke to a variety of Latino stakeholders throughout the country since Friday it is clear that most see the resignation of Baca as caucus chair as the only real solution to the current crisis. All Nuestravoice.com community leader sources claim that they have been afraid to speak out publicly for fear of political retribution.

I believe that one possible worst case scenario could be that the continued mishandling of the current caucus crisis would lead to a continued erosion of the caucus’s political strength. In that worst case possibility Baca will end up Chair of a broken entity, carry a historical legacy of destroying an important national community institution, and may even severely hurt his own political career at the same time.

Concerned members of the caucus, especially those in leadership positions, should realize that the Latino community is being hurt by prolonging the Baca chairmanship and encourage the Congressman to resign from the CHC post. If Baca does not resign the members may have to take the unfortunate, but then necessary, step of removing him by vote.

Nuestravoice.com will continue to monitor these events today.

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