From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Local Immigrant Activists Denounce Opposition’s Tactics
Strengthening Our Lives (SOL) is conducting a voter registration and get out the vote (GOTV) campaign in Fresno. They have come under attack by The Fresno Bee, the local daily newspaper, who has accused SOL and organized labor of having undue influence in local elections. The Press Conference, featured in the video below, was SOL’s response to the Bee’s criticism.
Local Immigrant Activists Denounce Opposition’s Tactics
By Mike Rhodes
The Fresno Bee, in a front page story last Thursday (May 29, 2008), claimed mayoral candidate Henry T. Perea would “benefit from $750,000" that a “West Hollywood-based pro-labor political action committee” would use to help get him elected. The next day The Bee denounced Perea in an editorial saying “there’s a reason special-interest groups put money into a race - they want something from their investment.” The “special interest” group The Bee is critical of is Strengthening Our Lives (SOL), a statewide group conducting a voter registration and get out the vote campaign in Southeast Fresno. SOL supports current City Council member and Democrat Henry Perea. The Bee supports Republican Ashley Swearengin. In fact, all of the candidates The Bee is supporting - for mayor, City Council, and the Board of Supervisors are Republicans.
Salvador “Chava” Bustamante, Northern California Director of SOL, spoke at a Press Conference today (May 31) and denounced The Bee for their attack on Perea and SOL. Bustamante said “It is a shame that The Fresno Bee who is so interested in talking about this issue is not here today. We denounce the tactics that the opposition is using in this campaign and we also want to set the record straight about who we are and what we do.”
Bustamante says that the local SOL campaign has hired about two dozen workers to do “old-style person to person politics.” He said they have spent something like $50,000 - $60,000 on the campaign, nowhere near the $750,000 claimed by The Bee.
At the Press Conference, Bustamante said “SOL’s campaign is new and unique. It is dedicated to helping regular folks - hard working humble Latino immigrants take part in politics, often for the first time. SOL’s walkers have the opportunity to have their voices heard - increasing voter turnout after years of its steady decline.
Eugenia Melesio, also speaking at the Press Conference, said “on the one hand it is too bad about all of this controversy, but on the other hand it makes me happy because it shows, by their reaction that they are afraid of us and what we are doing.”
Bustamante said that “unlike other PAC’s (Political Action Committees) that use their money to send attack pieces, we use our money to hire hard working people to go into the community and talk to our neighbors about the issues that are important to us. In Fresno, one of the big issues is clean air, we want to have a community where our children can grow and live without having to get sick all the time. We want to live in a city where we have safe streets and more after school programs. That is the kind of community we want and that is what this campaign is about.”
SOL is a partnership of progressive labor, faith and community organizations dedicated to increasing the civic participation of California’s immigrant communities. You can find out more by going to: http://www.sol-california.com and http://www.youtube.com/user/SOLCALI
###
By Mike Rhodes
The Fresno Bee, in a front page story last Thursday (May 29, 2008), claimed mayoral candidate Henry T. Perea would “benefit from $750,000" that a “West Hollywood-based pro-labor political action committee” would use to help get him elected. The next day The Bee denounced Perea in an editorial saying “there’s a reason special-interest groups put money into a race - they want something from their investment.” The “special interest” group The Bee is critical of is Strengthening Our Lives (SOL), a statewide group conducting a voter registration and get out the vote campaign in Southeast Fresno. SOL supports current City Council member and Democrat Henry Perea. The Bee supports Republican Ashley Swearengin. In fact, all of the candidates The Bee is supporting - for mayor, City Council, and the Board of Supervisors are Republicans.
Salvador “Chava” Bustamante, Northern California Director of SOL, spoke at a Press Conference today (May 31) and denounced The Bee for their attack on Perea and SOL. Bustamante said “It is a shame that The Fresno Bee who is so interested in talking about this issue is not here today. We denounce the tactics that the opposition is using in this campaign and we also want to set the record straight about who we are and what we do.”
Bustamante says that the local SOL campaign has hired about two dozen workers to do “old-style person to person politics.” He said they have spent something like $50,000 - $60,000 on the campaign, nowhere near the $750,000 claimed by The Bee.
At the Press Conference, Bustamante said “SOL’s campaign is new and unique. It is dedicated to helping regular folks - hard working humble Latino immigrants take part in politics, often for the first time. SOL’s walkers have the opportunity to have their voices heard - increasing voter turnout after years of its steady decline.
Eugenia Melesio, also speaking at the Press Conference, said “on the one hand it is too bad about all of this controversy, but on the other hand it makes me happy because it shows, by their reaction that they are afraid of us and what we are doing.”
Bustamante said that “unlike other PAC’s (Political Action Committees) that use their money to send attack pieces, we use our money to hire hard working people to go into the community and talk to our neighbors about the issues that are important to us. In Fresno, one of the big issues is clean air, we want to have a community where our children can grow and live without having to get sick all the time. We want to live in a city where we have safe streets and more after school programs. That is the kind of community we want and that is what this campaign is about.”
SOL is a partnership of progressive labor, faith and community organizations dedicated to increasing the civic participation of California’s immigrant communities. You can find out more by going to: http://www.sol-california.com and http://www.youtube.com/user/SOLCALI
###
For more information:
http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home
Add Your Comments
Latest Comments
Listed below are the latest comments about this post.
These comments are submitted anonymously by website visitors.
TITLE
AUTHOR
DATE
I Was Struck Too by the Split...
Fri, Jun 6, 2008 9:27AM
The Runoff Election
Thu, Jun 5, 2008 6:05AM
A Tale of Two Cities
Wed, Jun 4, 2008 9:03AM
I never said tom is a green
Tue, Jun 3, 2008 8:53PM
An Historical Footnote
Mon, Jun 2, 2008 8:15PM
As to Mikes comments about Tom Boyajian
Mon, Jun 2, 2008 7:53PM
Local electoral strategy
Mon, Jun 2, 2008 7:48PM
An Opinion from the Queer Community
Mon, Jun 2, 2008 6:57PM
A united left?
Mon, Jun 2, 2008 11:31AM
Response to Gloria
Sun, Jun 1, 2008 4:26PM
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network