Civil rights activist Efren Guttierrez declares candidacy for Sacramento City Council, slams ‘special interests’ that dominate city hall; Says his special interest will be 'people'

2010-02-09T23:04:04Z

SACRAMENTO – Declaring “my only special interests are people,”
civil rights activist Efren Guttierrez today (Feb. 9) officially
announced his candidacy for Sacramento City Council, District 1 –
and he didn’t’ waste anytime slamming big special interest money
that dominates local campaign races.

“I will only have one special interest: The People. I will not
accept contributions from large developers and similar special
interests because ‘It’s About Time’ the grip of those special
interests on the city is broken,” pledged Guttierrez, 54, a local
real estate broker and community activist as he stood outside
Sacramento City Hall with dozens of supporters.

Guttierrez is the executive director of Chicano Consortium, and
president of the La Raza Sacramento Chapter. He’s also on CORE’s
steering committee and a member of a large number of social
justice groups, including the Dept. of Justice Hate Crime Task
Force, Latino Congreso, Sacramento Mentor Program and Rescue &
Restore Coalition (anti-human trafficking), among many others listed.

Guttierrez, who held his event at a City Hall memorial of former
Sacramento Mayor Joe Serna, repeatedly used his theme “It’s About
Time,” referring to the 11 years since a Latino has been on the
Sacramento City Council. More than 22 percent of Sacramento’s
population is Latino, and it’s nearly about 27 percent in
District 1 – largely in the Natomas area.

Guttierrez said one of his goals is to “stop lining the pockets
of the wealthy and super wealthy who get special favors (from the
City). The time of sweetheart deals from the city to these
companies is over. I wan to generate not just any jobs, but
living wage jobs,” he said.

“We also need to focus on the kids…(and) provide them with an
education not just from books, but how to survive in their
community, and on this planet. We need to teach life skills,”
Guttierrez said. He also said he hopes to launch an effort to
help people in the city with soaring health care costs. “This is
everyone’s problem,” he said.

Guttierrez acknowledged that his campaign will not have large
campaign coffers because of his refusal to accept corporate
special interest money. But, he said, his “people” campaign will
be “fueled” by social justice organizations and volunteers.

“I will have the aid…of those who truly care about others more
than their own bottom line. The people have been down too long
and fooled too often by politicians. But I am not a politician.
This campaign will be about people,” he said.

More information can be found at www.EfrenGcitycouncil.org.

Locals join national "Stop Lou Dobbs" campaign

2009-10-22T03:28:05Z

Noon-hour visitors to Cesar Chavez Plaza were able to view more than just a farmer's market Wednesday.

They also witnessed about 20 activists and members of the media in a press conference announcing the "Stop Lou Dobbs" campaign created by the national Latino community group, www.presente.org.

The group formed as a response to anti-Latino sentiment in the media, starting with who they feel is the worst offender: CNN's Lou Dobbs. According to the group's website, www.bastadobbs.com, Dobbs uses his news program "Lou Dobbs Tonight" to spread false information about immigrants and Latinos.

Held only hours before CNN debuts a four-hour documentary called "Latino in America," the group came together to challenge what it called "CNN's hypocrisy."

"I think that CNN can't continue to present this dichotomous view of Latinos as strong people and then (have Dobbs) trash our heritage," said Rafael Aguilera of Sacramento's La Raza network.

Gathering around the statue of Cesar Chavez, several of the speakers included Sacramento's Chicano Consortium director Efren Guttierrez, CSUS ethnic studies professor Eric Vega and Sacramento's Council on American-Islamic Relations director Basim Elkarra.

"The location has always been symbolic of Chavez, a humanitarian who fought for all of us, at the center of our hearts," Guttierrez said.

"Lou Dobbs and others have been spreading hatred through the airways," he said in a speech to the small group of local media and gatherers.

A press release from www.bastadobbs.com said that out of 140 broadcast hours from Jan. 1 to July 23 of this year, 77 hours of "Lou Dobbs Tonight" included segments on immigrants. The website stated, "Dobbs helps popularize the myth that Latino immigrants flood the U.S. with disease (and) a third of our prison system is made up of illegal aliens." The website states both claims are not true.

It also said that Dobbs promoted extremist groups such as Federation for American Immigration Reform and The Minutemen on his show.

"Incitement (of hate) leads to hate crimes," Elkarra said. "Organizations like CNN have a responsibility not to support hate."

"Dobbs hides behind the first amendment, and his speech leads to an increase in attacks against Latinos," Vega said.

Local photographer Francisco Dominguez said he thinks Latinos have suffered racism since this country's inception.

"(Racism) has no business on television (posed) as news," Dominguez said. "There needs to be checks on the program, (especially when) the No. 1 victims of hate crimes are Latinos."

Rob Griffith, a local reporter from Capitol Television News Service, said that while he's never watched Lou Dobbs' show, the Stop Lou Dobbs campaign is misdirected.

"The people behind (Stop Lou Dobbs) misunderstand how the first amendment works," he said. "Efforts to silence opposition violates American freedoms."

Guttierrez explained that www.presente.org has already received 70,000 signatures on a petition to pull Dobbs off the air, but the goal is 100,000. Though Guttierrez urged Latinos and others to watch the CNN program airing tonight, Domiguez said that he was ready to boycott CNN entirely.

"CNN will understand that," he said. "It's the same thing that Chavez did with the grape growers. He was a master organizer."

Guttierrez said that he would watch "Latino in America" out of respect for the people whom the program features. He mentioned that CNN is the most trusted name in news, but added "if this is how CNN builds trust, (they) will lose it."

Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "chicano consortium"

Civil rights activist Efren Guttierrez declares candidacy for Sacramento City Council, slams ‘special interests’ that dominate city hall; Says his special interest will be 'people'

Locals join national "Stop Lou Dobbs" campaign