January 11, 2009 11:45 PM UTC

No more. No mГЎs.

• 8 Comments
• by: Libertad

During the Bennet selection I was accused (here on Coloradopols) of race baiting for suggesting that stronger consideration of J.Salazar, Secretary Pena or another Latina be given to assure that Colorado did not backslide in its Senatorial representation.

I suggested this might cause an issue, now apparently it has finally made the papers.

The selection, and seeming consideration, of nothing but white males for three high-profile political positions has prompted substantial backlash from Colorado’s Latino political and business leaders who feel left out and ignored at a time of nearly unprecedented state and local political change.

“This will have legs down the road, I swear to God it will,” said former Democratic state Sen. Paul Sandoval.

http://www.denverpost.com/brea…

Oh yeah, jump to the link to read more about the “grumblin'”.

“We’re just not being listened to,” said Republican Gil Cisneros, president and chief executive of the Chamber of the Americas.

“To those who feel we are not good enough to fill positions of power, we say to you, ‘No more will we be taken for granted,’ ” former Denver Councilwoman Ramona Martinez said at a news conference attended by about 20 Latino leaders Friday. “No more will our numbers be only counted on Election Day. No more. No más.”

Martinez and the others announced the formation of the Colorado Latino Forum to push Latino causes to the fore. About 65 people from 25 organizations formed the group Wednesday. They already have reached out to Latinos in Pueblo and hope to broaden into a statewide presence.

Martinez said that from 2004 to 2008, the Latino vote in Colorado jumped from 170,370 to 312,175.

“Yet our community seems to be on the outside looking in when decisions are made that affect our lives,” Martinez said.

The forum’s immediate goal is to push the Denver school board to at least listen to the group’s concerns before moving forward to finalize Tom Boasberg’s appointment as superintendent Jan. 22.

Juana Bordas, the founder of Mi Casa Resource Center, said Salazar’s election statewide and Obama’s election nationally make it apparent that voters are ready for diverse representation. But those who make appointment decisions behind closed doors seemingly aren’t getting the message that diversity is important, she said.

“These appointments have been made without the consultation, without the consideration or without any commitment to the Hispanic community,” she said.

“If the governor was concerned about Denver’s public schools, he should have kept Michael Bennet where he belongs and not appointed somebody to the Senate who did not have the credentials and has only been in the state a decade,” Bordas said at the news conference, to applause.

“The sleeping giant is awake,” said Democratic Councilwoman Montero.