The fate of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) San Benito County Council #2890 is up in the air as infighting has led to the historical leadership change.
On March 30, LULAC State Director Jose Barrera Novoa announced in an email to Council #2890 members, that he appointed Hollister Resident Irma Gonzalez as president. On April 2, he did it through a news release.
“For the continuation of LULAC Council 2890, I was asked by state and national LULAC to serve as president of the council until an election could be held naming a successor,” said Gonzalez, who is also a Gavilan College trustee and is married to San Benito County Auditor- Controller Joe Paul Gonzalez. “LULAC has been a very important part of this community. Our desire for Council 2890 is to continue in its mission of serving the many needs of the large Latino community.”
She said there is no set date for an election but it will follow a 30-day notice to members who are interested in remaining with Council #2890.
“These decisions are not easily made. The tenure of the people who contributed so much to the league are acknowledged and we applaud them for their service, but rules must be followed and adherence to the constitution for the growth and service of LULAC in the San Benito Council is essential,” Barrera Novoa said in the release. “We look forward to working with community members and leaders across the state to ensure San Benito LULAC’s continued success.”
This decision comes on the heels of the year-long suspension of Council #2890 founding member Mickie Luna, who has been with the organization for 35 years, creating leadership and scholarships programs for the youth. Former president Richard Perez was expelled and the council put on probation for a year.
Perez told BenitoLink that on March 11, a day after national LULAC met to consider Luna and his status, the council unanimously voted to not recharter, citing lack of support and to instead join the Latino Coalition of San Benito County.
Luna, said that although she doesn’t know the exact numbers leaving, “the majority” of the LULAC members intend to abandon LULAC and move to the Latino Coalition.
According to Perez, the conflict with leaders on the district, state and national levels stems from an alleged sexual assault incident at a national youth convention back in 2019. He added Council #2890 had been awaiting the results of the investigation but found out nothing had been done in a 2020 report by KION-TV on the case.
“We started asking questions and wanted to know what the state director… what they were doing,” Perez said. “Some things didn’t add up. We found out on the national level they wanted to bury it.”
Perez also said leadership did not want to investigate the allegations because the suspect in the case is related to then-Vice President Irene Barrera and Chris Barrera.
Because of this, Perez said LULAC District 12 began a campaign to discredit and remove Luna and himself from Council #2890.
The district, which includes councils in Monterey and San Benito counties, and Los Banos, announced on November 16, 2022, it had declared San Benito Council defunct.
According to the district, the decision was made because of Council #2890’s “refusal to follow the LULAC Constitution and Bylaws and cited “failure to provide financial documentation as required in the LULAC Constitution to the District Board as requested.”
The November announcement stated Luna and Perez had been suspended since November 2021 and February 2022, respectively. It also announced it had impeached Vince Luna, Mickie Luna’s husband and the council’s treasurer, in February 2021.
“That stems from us not wanting to deal with Elia [Salinas],” Perez said. “Her membership was suspended or not renewed and they said it’s a violation of the constitution. Not true. The Constitution says the council has the ability to choose membership.”
Salinas, a Hollister resident who is a staple in local government meetings, was reinstituted by national LULAC. She told BenitoLink she didn’t have authorization to talk about the status of Council #2890.
“I can say I’ve been re-vindicated and reinstated for questioning the leadership of not abiding by constitution and bylaws.” She added she complained about the council not giving a reason for her membership denial.
“They can’t do that without due process,” Salinas said. “That was my complaint.”
National LULAC has also had its own issues with apparent infighting.
In October 2022, it announced the termination of its CEO Sindy Benavides and removed, impeached or expelled five additional national members, including San Benito County resident Andres Rodriguez, national vice-president for young adults.
According to the news release, this group violated an “array of violations of the organization’s constitution.” But the release did not provide additional details on the member’s alleged violations other than they were making “fake claims.” It added that impeachment charges against LULAC President Domingo Garcia were dropped.
Rodriguez told BenitoLink he had no comment.
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