Margarita Espada: the art of social change

"Like the yerba bruja plant freckling the hillsides of Puerto Rico, withstanding intense heat and almost unlivable conditions, adapting to whatever challenges threaten to harm it, Margarita Espada, too, has learned to adapt, to survive, to thrive." 

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Aljazeera on the Murder of Marcelo Lucero

Is Levy Getting His Comeuppance? Part 6: Levy's Plea

It's reported in today's Newsday that Steve Levy has sent a 2 page letter pleading with the state legislature to pass legislation authorizing $300 million sales tax. He warns that he'll be forced to layoff scores of government workers and the the local hospitals will be "deluged with patients" if the tax is not immediately adopted.

The ploy is supposed to pull at the heart strings of state legislators, but the case is being made by a guy who has been methodically dismantling the county's social safety net.

Nonprofit contract agencies which the county relies on to provide critical services to county residents have been subject to a campaign by Levy to wring 100s of millions of dollars in savings that otherwise would go to services. Many of the agencies are on the brink of closing as a result.

I suspect that the state legislators are well aware of Levy's irresponsible stewardship, so his pleas probably sound quite hollow.

See Levy pleads to extend Suffolk sales tax.

Is Levy Getting His Comeuppance? Part 5: Sharks vs Jets

Rick Brand of NewsDay has some of the inside story (Suffolk's Levy claims 'set up' in sales-tax holdup - 7.1.07) to the deal between Steve Levy and the Assembly minority caucus to establish a hiring hall in Suffolk County in exchange for the continuation of a sales tax.

It appears that Sheldon Silver called Levy to tell him that the minority caucus was not on board with the sales tax extension unless he agreed to a state-sponsored hiring hall. Levy tells Silver that if the state does the hall then there's nothing he could do about it. Done. Silver believes he has a deal and that gets communicated to the caucus. The deal gets leaked, making Levy look like, well, a politician. Levy hold multiple press conferences in which he denies the No Deal Deal.

The latest twist is that Levy is now claiming it was a clever set-up--although he doesn't say by whom.

Suffolk assemblyman and caucus member, Philip Ramos, insists that the caucus was told that Levy agreed to the deal--and questions his political motivation for all of his protestations . He said,"I don't believe Levy wants a solution. ... If the caucus gets the day laborers off the street, Steve Levy loses a big part of his political identity."

So that's the background to the No Deal Deal. Again, it's New York politics.

But here's the intriguing part of Brand's article. He quotes Desmond Ryan, a veteran Albany lobbyist, as saying that the dispute could widen to the ranks of unions, wary of hiring halls for day laborers. "Unions see it as a direct assault on members' jobs," he said.

Of course, the role of unions in this issue--and in so much of what goes on in Suffolk County politics--has been a major part of the untold story. The truth is that unions are powerful in Suffolk--very powerful AND very white. And they don't much care for newcomers. A great deal of the hostility directed at day laborers comes from the unions. And Levy's opposition to the undocumented is mostly about protecting union turf.

However, it's an old story: Politicians protecting the turf of powerful and very white unions. Undocumented workers are only the most recent group that the unions and their politicians have sought to freeze out. Samething has happened with African American, Latino, Asian and other workers. Anybody that comes into the market and seeks employment in unionized or related industries is going to find themselves kicked back.

Brand also includes a not so subtle threat from Richard Schaffer, Suffolk Democratic Party Boss, to Ramos. He says that the placement of the state's hiring hall will be controversial (and no doubt he's in position to make sure it is), and he wonders whether Ramos is OK with it going into his district. And Schaffer and the unions arethiclose.

It's now starting to look like the prelude to a rumble between the sharks and the Jets. Levy has brought forward his gang: local politicians, the party boss and the unions. Ramos has the minority caucus. The only trouble for Ramos is that he's largely alone in shark territory--and the sharks are looking to put a hurt on him.

Read the Is Levy Getting His Comeuppance? series.

Phil Ramos: Fighting the Good Fight on L.I.

The NYTimes did a nice write-up on Phil Ramos, Suffolk County's minority member of the NYS Assembly.

A single father of twin girls and former police officer, Ramos is the only politician willing to stand-up to Steve Levy and his nativist politics.

“It’s about trying to do the right thing even if it is unpopular at first,” says Mr. Ramos, who keeps a crucifix and a rosary on his desk to remind him of his grandfather’s words.

True leaders are not defined by the number of photo ops and press releases they churn out, but what they do when times are tough or the issue is unpopular.

Ramos taking on Suffolk's leading bully, Ramos is demonstrating that he is a true leader.

Read: A L.I. Assemblyman Learns to Work the System (by Robin Finn, NYTimes - 6.29.07)
Is Levy Getting His Comeuppance? series on American Taíno.

Latino immigrant students pursuing their American dreams (and the teachers that help them)

American Taíno readers know that Suffolk County New York is known for its ugly strain of anti-Latino immigrants. Suffolk is where an immigrant family was burned out of their home; where Steve Levy ordered troopers to evict immigrant workers from their homes in the dead of winter; and the legislature considered making it illegal for Latinos to stand on public sidewalks.

However, in the midst of this harassment life goes on. The truth is that Latino immigrants are truly a hardy bunch. There's not much that xenophobic suburbanites can do to dissuade them from pursuing their dreams. Consider this story by Kate Maier entitled Learning English and Much More: Non-native speakers discover a family atmosphere in the E.S.L. classroom (The East Hampton Star - 6.21.07).

At first glance it's a story about students and their teachers in a tony part of Long Island. But it's really about Latino immigrants leaping over barriers, grabbing hold of their American dreams, and the teachers who guide them.

There's Jorge Gomez who arrived 4 years ago from Ecuador, mastered English and earned a Regents diploma. He's now set to begin classes at the Island Drafting and Technical Institute in Amityville.

Priscila Benenaula, a junior also from Ecuador, didn’t know a word of English when she enrolled at East Hampton High School in May of 2005. A month later, she took Regents exams in global studies and math — and passed them both. She's now editor of the bilingual student magazine and earned a trip to Albany to learn about government.

Johana Carmona arrived from Colombia when she was 15 years old. She's now a graduate of Suffolk Community College, works as an office assistant at her former high school and is taking courses at SUNY Stony Brook.

Ms Carmona husband, whom she met in high school and is also from Colombia, completed high school and is now a graphic designer. She admits that it wasn't easy for him but he persevered and completed his program.

And then there's biology teacher Dr. Lilian Ramzy who was a medical doctor in El Salvador before immigrating to the United States. Her first year at the East Hampton High School, the bilingual biology class had a 100-percent passing rate on the Regents.

And then there are the nonLatino teachers who are examples of our better selves. Billy Dickson teaches mathematics but his other job is building the immigrant students' sense of belonging. Connie Randolph, head of the school's ESL program, expresses admiration for her teachers and fondness for the students. And there's Eva Iacono whose classroom is a haven for immigrant students as they prepare for American lives beyond high school.

Study: Immigrants strengthen LI economy

Study: Immigrants strengthen LI economy 06/05/07)

WOODBURY - A study released Tuesday by the Horace Hagedorn Foundation found Long Island benefits economically from its immigrant community.

According to the study, Hispanic immigrants - both legal and illegal - each contribute an average of $614 more than they receive in education, health care and corrections. Hispanic-owned businesses on the Island, meanwhile, earn $2 billion and employ approximately 25,000 people, the study found.

"This population is creating jobs," said Darren Sandow, executive director of the Horace Hagedorn Foundation. "They're actually bringing down the amount of taxes each Long Islander pays because they're generating income."

Horace Hagedorn was the founder of Miracle Gro plant food. He died in 2005. The foundation named after him is continued by his wife, Amy Hagedorn, who is president of the organization.

Latino Long Island

Today's Newsday includes this interesting editorial on the growing Latino presence on Long Island: Changing face of LI: Hagedorn study of Hispanic population should be required reading.

Below are excerpts:

Of the 330,000, more than 178,000 are U.S. citizens by birth. And of the 151,000 foreign born, many are legally authorized to live and work here, including those who fled the bloody wars in Central America in the 1980s and 1990s.

Their economic impact is significant: The report estimates that the consumer spending of Hispanic residents pumps almost $5.7 billion a year into the economy. And it documents a robust growth of the Hispanic-owned business sector. In the period from 1997 to 2002, the number of those businesses grew from 12,090 to 16,262, and sales rose from $1.6 billion to just under $2 billion.

This is a younger population, growing much faster than the region as a whole. So, for decades to come, Latinos are likely to be an increasingly major force here on Long Island - economically, culturally and politically.

This report should be must reading for our public officials at all levels of government.

Immigrants contribute to LI's economy

Ray Keating, the conservative voice columnist for Newsday, writes positively about the economic contributions of the island's Latino immigrants.

What's interesting is that Keating has written nice things about Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy's fiscal management. But Levy's the guy that's costing island businesses and residents tons of money by chasing away necessary immigrant labor. For example, businesses in the Hamptons are hurting because they can't get the labor they need.

Can you really be a great fiscal manager of government as well as the local chief immigrant harrasser?

Excerpts:

To sum up, the authors estimated that the Latino population in Nassau and Suffolk had a total economic impact of $5.7 billion in 2004, including helping to create more than 52,000 jobs. The economic pie grew.

Latinos directly or indirectly generated $925 million in revenue for local governments in 2004, while costing Long Island localities $723 million. That comes out to a net positive contribution to local government of $614 per Latino resident.

What does this all mean? Locally, it's time for some groups to stop kicking around immigrants, and instead start recognizing the role they play in keeping Long Island's economy afloat. Common-sense economics and basic human decency dictate welcoming immigrants and aiding their assimilation.

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NY State Democrats Denounce Steve Levy's Anti-Immigrant Policies

A group of 30 New York State Assembly members are denouncing Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy for inciting anti-immigrant sentiment. The group blasts Levy for selectively going after Latino immigrants in the enforcement of housing codes but leaving white summer home renters alone--a group which is widely known for packing as many as 40 people into a small rental cottages in the Hamptons and Fire Island.

Resolution sponsors include Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat of Manhattan and Assemblyman Phil Ramos of Brentwood in Suffolk County.

Suffolk County Democratic Party leaders are trying to stop the resolution from being debated in the state's lower house.

Meanwhile, the hugely popular Levy is cruising towards an easy re-election in the fall. He's guaranteed Democratic party backing, he's been endorsed of the county's Independence and Conservative parties and the GOP is considering doing the same.

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