Rendell’s pledge
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Democratic candidate Edward Rendell, wooing the Latino vote before the Nov. 5 gubernatorial election, pledged to put more Latinos in government posts. The 2000 census showed the state with 394,000 Latinos, up 70 percent from 1990, and the number is expected to keep growing.
“In a decade, Latinos will be extraordinarily important,” Rendell said Friday at the statewide Latino Coalition conference at the Wyndham Hotel.
Rendell pledged to give more power to the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs, saying it should oversee state programs that affect Latinos and recommend people for top state jobs.
“We need qualified Latino men and women to hold positions of power in the state,” Rendell said. “If all we have is a Latino commission, just a name, then we have failed.”
Census figures show pockets of Hispanic-speaking households in Berks, Lehigh, Lancaster and Philadelphia counties.
Republican candidate Mike Fisher, the state’s attorney general, had planned to attend the conference, but canceled to join Vice President Dick Cheney on his visit Friday to the Reading area.
“Certainly, Mike Fisher’s administration will include minorities,” spokesman Kevin Harley said Saturday. “Obviously, the fact he nominated Jane Earle shows that he promotes women and minorities to high levels of power.”
“His economic plan will benefit all Pennsylvanians, including Latinos, because there will be more job opportunities and more opportunities for small business to expand,” Harley said.
Rendell also wants the state try to recruit Latino high school and college students as future teachers. Bilingual teachers will become increasingly important in inner-city education as the Latino population grows, he said.
Green Party candidate Michael Morrill also attended the three-day coalition conference, which ended Saturday.
Newly elected board members vowed to increase community development in the state’s Latino neighborhoods.
“We have established ourselves as a makeup of this wonderful state,” said member Debby Martinez. “We are leaving our mark.”