Roger Rocha Jr. and Maggie Rivera
By H. Nelson Goodson
July 13, 2014
New York, New York - On Saturday, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) was forced to cancel its membership elections after a TRO was granted to a LULAC Council opposing the elections. The elections were cancelled for ten-days until the issue gets resolved.
The LULAC membership was set to elect their National President at the 85th National Convention in New York City over the weekend. Members from around the country attending the convention were ready to vote when the elections were unexpectedly suspended.
In a news release LULAC stated, "On the final day of the convention, the elections were postponed due to a court order. While the organization vigorously disputes the plaintiff's tactic in obtaining such an order without prior notice to LULAC, the organization's leadership had no choice but to comply with the order and to pursue legal remedies moving forward."
At least 20,000 attended the convention.
In previous years, controversy has tainted LULAC elections, procedures and rules in electing its membership to leadership roles.
Maggie Rivera from Crystal Lake, Illinois and Roger Rocha Jr. from Laredo, Texas are candidates for National LULAC President. An estimated 1,625 delegates were present at the election assembly on Saturday. Rivera apparently had about 60% of the votes to get her elected as National President for LULAC, but the election was postponed by Luis Vera, the designated Election judge by the outgoing National LULAC President Margaret Moran. Moran and Vera are accused of supporting Rocha and keeping Rivera from being elected, according to some of Rivera's delegates at the convention.
2 comments:
There were 1,625 delegates in attendance at the General Assembly of LULAC. Luis Vera is part of the power structure of LULAC, as General Counsel, not an elected position. Other members of the power club include Margaret Moran, National president, Rosa Rosales, past 2006-2010 National President, Manuel Escobar, Legal Advisor (appointed position) and Miguel Ortiz, Legal Advisor for Texas LULAC (appointed position). The court order enjoined the powers that be, mainly Margaret Moran and Manuel Escobar from using the Legal Advisor from rendering "legal opinions" on the outcome of an election that was called by the Election Judge. Luis vera was appointed by Margaret Moran to serve as the Election Judge for the conduct of elections. Vera knew that their candidate was going to lose, Rivera having up to 60% of the delegates in the house. The court order was specific and did not order Moran or Vera or LULAC not to have a convention to elect its national officers. Maggie was going to win. In LULAC, vera was going to call for a stand up show of hands vote for Maggie and Rocha. He would call the vote for Rocha. Rivera's supporters would issue a challenge. They would be told by Manuel Escobar, the national Legal Advisor that Luis Vera's call was correct. A challenge would need a 2/3'rds vote to get a count of the vote. The LULAC Constitution makes no provision for the use of the Legal Advisor to rule on how the Election Judge calls the election. The Rules Committee wrote a rule 5 to have the Legal Advisor become involved in calling an election. Challenges to a vote call has been governed by Robert's Rules of Order since 1929. The legal Advisor's role was adopted by the Rules Committee. The rules of the Rules Committee require a 2/3'rds vote to over-ride. Robert's Rules says that if not covered in the organization's constitution or by-laws, a call for a division of the house requires a simple majority vote. The Rules Committee has changed that provision in Robert's Rules to a 2/3'rds vote. The only way to dewal with the totalitarian tactics of the LULAC power house was to get the court to enjoin the use of the Legal Advisor in the LULAC elections. The court did not order LULAC to stop the election of officers. That was Luis Vera, Manuel Escobar and Miguel Ortiz' way of killing the election so that the existing LULAC officers can name the new Executive Committee of LULAC. Roger Rocha had a minority of delegates, Maggie Rivera had a majority of delegates. The Maggie Rivera stayed for the continuation of the meeting, their count was 825 delegates present for the continuation of the elections to which all candidates running with the Maggie Rivera slate were elected into office. We estimate that about 75 pro-Maggie delegates left the convention hall when Luis Vera made the announcement that the elections were being cancelled. This power grabbers did the same thing in the Texas LULAC Convention in 2013 which was held in San Antonio. Roger Rocha, the Election Judge for the Texas LULAC Convention, seeing that the powers in LULAC were going to lose because they were short about 135 delegates, called to convention to a halt on the claims that a riot was about to start and that the San Antonio police department was coming to the convention hall to arrest anybody still on the floor when they arrived. This same power grabbers removed Joey Cardenas as Texas LULAC Director in 2012, Linda Chavez as Texas LULAC Director in 2013 and in 2012, also had Joey Cardenas expelled from LULAC, the same fate that Linda Chavez experienced in 2013. What happen in New York is a power play in LULAC by a greedy bunch of narrow minded persons who will go to any length to retain control of national LULAC and Texas LULAC.
Wow.....how far has this Spanish/Mexican American /Latino/Naturalized Citizens having Spanish roots/former enclave of South Texas Hispanic power, has fallen. I remember organizing a LULAC Chapter in Omaha back in the late 70's....within five years there were Five Chapters in the City ! Very similar to the divide and conquer trap that has brought the American GI Forum to its knees. At one time the state I currently live in Nebraska, had over 15 Chapters! Now there are two functioning Chapters. The National Office of the AGIF has capitulated the brand to powerful Forum Chapters. The political shenanigans, law suits, divisive behaviors and an unwillingness to reach consensus is a plague on these two former bastions of Mexican Amercan civil rights. Having been to several recent national conventions of the AGIF, I have seen 1st hand how leadership has failed to adjust to a changing Latino demographic, leading these institutions straight into the dust-bin of obsolescence. Que Lastima.....Que Viva Dr. Hector P. Garcia, and all that he stood for......J.F. Garcia -Chicano-at-Large...Aztlan del Norte, Estado de Nebraska.
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