2022-08-03 ICGC LULAC Barles - Laserfiche WebLink

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LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS LULAC of Riverside, COUNCIL # 3190 President: Norma Barles: Vice President: Kayvan Sasaninia; Treasurer: Dr. Lily Rivera Secretary: Sala Ponnech: Parliamentarian: Gilberto Esquivel; Past President: Yolanda Esquivel Board Members: Rosa Beltran, Jeff Green, Sira Uribe August 3, 2022 Dear ICGC Committee: We are LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) of Riverside and part of Brown and Black Redistricting Alliance. We are doing public comment for Agenda Item #2 City of Riverside redistricting. Before sharing our redistricting -related comments, we will explain who we are and what we engage in. LULAC, founded in 1929, is the largest and oldest Latino civil rights organization in the United States. LULAC was formed through the merging of several Latino service organizations in order to address the discrimination and other injustices. LULAC of Riverside - Council 3190 was established to enhance the quality of life in Riverside through improved health care access, educational equity and community building/engagement. The geographic area of focus of LULAC Council 3190 is Western Riverside County. Our members live, work and interact throughout Riverside's neighborhoods and organizations. We share the common interest of advancing health/educational/social equity. LULAC has done extensive work in the City of Riverside including health fairs, redistricting, elementary school advocacy - and assistance with personal protective equipment and food assistance (during COVID urgent response). The 10 LULAC health fairs have occurred in different parts of Riverside. The first health fair was at Riverside Community College. Others have taken place at the Cesar Chavez Community Center, Veterans Village, Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Bordwell Park. To address decades of educational inequities, LULAC is supporting the development of the elementary schools in the Eastside and Casa Blanca neighborhoods. To support understanding across cultures, LULAC helped raise funds to help bring the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture to Riverside. To support fair electoral processes, LULAC first worked with a redistricting effort in 2010 - after that Census. Based on LULAC's extensive experiences supporting the quality of life in the City of Riverside, our public comment regarding the City of Riverside redistricting relates to the meeting schedule/accommodations and a city-wide/neighborhood Community of Interest statement. Regarding the redistricting meetings/workshops, LULAC is requesting that redistricting workshops and public hearings be held after 6:oo p.m. and that there will be Spanish translation materials and interpreters. For our city wide/neighborhood Community of Interest, it includes three predominantly Latino neighborhoods in the City of Riverside (i.e., Arlanza, Casa Blanca, Eastside). We also include Downtown and Mission Grove. Arlanza Communities of Interest Arlanza is between Van Buren Blvd. and Arlington Avenue, bordering the Santa Ana River bottom. While Arlanza residents share many commonalities with each other [such as faith - based organizations, youth sports teams (at Bryant Park), community garden, Norte Vista High School, etc.], the Arlanza community is split in two by the districting boundaries. We should Page I 1