Candidate questions reflect all, but add focus on Latino issues

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Updated: March 15, 2011 9:09AM

It has been my experience that when you talk about a “Latino agenda,” people get nervous. To some it sounds a little scary, as if all Chicago City Council meetings would have to be held in Spanish and all Chicago police dogs would be required to be AKC-certified Chihuahuas.

Weird, funny, sometimes stereotypical thoughts bubble up in the mind when any group talks about their “agenda.”

Yet if you take a closer look at all the interested parties weighing in on who might serve them best as the next mayor of Chicago — women, Latinos, African Americans, the gay, lesbian and transgendered, big business, etc. — you get the feeling that we’re all in this together. When you boil it down, we’re all looking for leadership, transparent governance and empathy from the next mayor.

All this came to mind when the Latino Policy Forum — whose stated mission is to build the power, influence and leadership of the Latino community to ensure the well-being of society as a whole — last week released the results of its Chicago mayoral questionnaire. Comprising 18 questions gleaned from representatives of 48 nonpartisan Latino organizations, the questionnaire speaks to my constant observation that a Latino agenda is an American and, in this case, Chicago agenda.

Rather than teeing up a panoply of questions designed to cast the two Latino candidates in the most favorable light — the nonpartisan Forum did not design the exercise to render an endorsement. I relished that the questions spoke to all Chicagoans invested in the election of a mayor who will make this city a success for all.

Check out these questions:

† “How will you ensure the City budget remains solvent over the short and long term?”

† “What is your plan to work with the appropriate public and private entities to ensure affordable pricing for the less affluent and permanently unemployed?”

† “How will you reform city community colleges to increase completion rates and enhance transitions to four-year universities or careers in high-growth industries?”

† “How will you ensure that culturally appropriate parent engagement strategies and programs are put in place at each school?”

Look at the agendas of Chicago business, women’s and multi-cultural rights advocacy organizations, and you see these themes are universal.

And yet, while it’s true that we are all in this together — and though many people, myself included, firmly believe that ethnic, racial and special interests should be absent from any discussion about who the next mayor should be — advocacy groups seek to engage leadership precisely because there are very real disparities that have not been addressed in the past and need attention. It’s not divisive, it’s just a reality.

Silvia Puente, executive director of the Latino Policy Forum, said the organization asked the candidates about “the kinds of things that every Chicagoan wants to know about,” but with an understanding that “one size does not fit all.” The Forum asked a question about affordable housing, for example, knowing that this is more of a need for some groups than for others.

“We have a unique circumstance here — the Latino population is growing, dramatically,” she said. “Without increased investment in issues that disproportionately affect the Latino population, it will fall behind. Equal investment is not enough because there will be a 30 percent growth in the Latino population in the next decade — anything less than that in increased investment will leave us behind. That’s not true for other groups.”

That’s a shame. I like to believe that everyone’s problems are equally important and therefore should be addressed equally. But that belief depends on an underlying parity that, sadly, Latinos don’t yet enjoy. And that makes me nervous.