COMMENTARY: CA LULAC takes control of Local Council 2890

This commentary was contributed by Jacob Sandoval, CA LULAC Deputy State Director. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent BenitoLink or other affiliated contributors. BenitoLink invites all community members to share their ideas and opinions. By registering as a BenitoLink user in the top right corner of our home page and agreeing to follow our Terms of Use, you can write counter opinions or share your insights on current issues.

With absolute dismay, some of us in CA LULAC learned from this online publication the pure fabrication spewed by a few former members who have since left the local council.  We hope to correct the most delusional statements made about the LULAC organization.

LULAC is a non-partisan national organization, but the hard work is conducted through local councils at the state and local levels. The local councils are tasked with making the LULAC mission a reality but their legal existence or authority comes exclusively from the national and state organizations.

As with any collection of individuals, sometimes people with an intent to harm or destroy the organization from within are allowed to join. And sometimes, without the organization realizing it, they even take positions of leadership. Undoing the damage inflicted by these people is proving to be a costly and challenging endeavor.

LULAC has recently taken steps to regain control of the local Council 2890 in San Benito County.  After serious questions of mismanagement surfaced several key members of the local Council were expelled or suspended.

Shortly after being removed or suspended from the organization, they started a campaign to sully LULAC’s reputation.

As part of this campaign, several articles [Commentary] have been published in BenitoLink as well as interviews by local news stations in the local area. The mendacious screeds included accusations of cover-ups and lawsuits being filed against us.

It is important for our community to know the truth and for us to correct the misinformation.

There were rumors of a sexual assault at a LULAC convention. The matter was referred to the police department which conducted a full and complete investigation.  At the conclusion of the investigation after speaking with all parties involved including the youth, the police determined there was not a crime, and no charges were filed. There was no cover-up, no sweeping under, and no failure on the part of LULAC.

Last year a former member who was expelled from the LULAC filed for a restraining order in the name of the San Benito Council.  That order was requested to be brought against LULAC. Among other things, he wanted the court to issue a gag order against members of LULAC to prevent them from issuing press releases and making public comments. Without LULAC even needing to appear on the matter, the judge denied the request and dismissed the matter.

Ms. Irma C. Gonzalez, the current President of San Benito County LULAC Council 2890 is leading the efforts to rebuild the Council. Ms. Gonzalez is a respected and accomplished leader in San Benito County and she is looking forward to making this an organization that will provide a benefit to all of the Latino community in San Benito County.

LULAC plans to audit the council’s finances, identify questionable expenditures, and take steps to recover property that has gone missing.  But above all this Council will not be defeated by the actions of a few malcontents. We will live up to our expectations of improving the lives of the Latino community with honesty, a code of ethics, and accountability.

If you would like to get involved in the re-born San Benito County LULAC Council 2890 please email council President Gonzalez at igonzalez@sbclulac.org.