Latino Group Releases Grievance Against Wisconsin Democratic Governor Tony Evers Over Exclusion In Cabinet Posts And Administrative Staff

Latino group wants Governor Evers to appoint a Latino/na as the executive director of the Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority.

By H. Nelson Goodson

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

March 14, 2019

Milwaukee, WI - On Thursday, a group called the Latino Voting Bloc (LVB) released an (Op-ed) grievance claiming that Governor Tony Evers (D) has yet to appoint a Latino/na to a Cabinet post and to his administrative staff. The LVB wants Governor Evers to appoint a Latino/na to the Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), "It would be wise to appoint a Latino or Latina to that role...With the exclusion of Latinos from his cabinet. Governor Evers should not be surprised that he is being called out, especially considering the fact that Governor Walker appointed at least one Latino (Manuel "Manny" Perez as Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development) to the cabinet when he was first elected...Demanding a seat at the table then is only logical for Wisconsin's Latinos. The demographics and economics of Wisconsin's Latinos justifies this outcry...it is also significant to note that Latinos are not alone in their grievance with Governor Evers. For International Women's Day, the Governor's office tweeted a picture of women working for the administration. Many Twitter users were quick to point out the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the photo of staffers, particularly the absence of Black women...Governor Evers can speak about his support of the Latino community, but his appointments reflect a disregard for Latinos, one of the critical populations for the future of Wisconsin and his reelection," according to LVB OP-ed. Also the Governor's office staff photo showed a lack of Latinas as well.

Both Latinos and the African-American voting population in the State of Wisconsin were instrumental in electing Governor Evers and Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes (D), the first African-American to the executive branch in Wisconsin.

So far, Governor Evers seems to defend his position by indictating that he has selected the most qualified staff and cabinet appointees, according to news sources.
The opinion grievance by the LVB to appoint a Latino/na to a cabinet position has a valid point, since Latinos are stakeholders in communities across Wisconsin and are taxpayers. The LVB grievance might even spill into the upcoming Democratic National Convention in 2020, if Governor Evers fails to deliver and takes the Latino community for granted.

Update: Hispanic News Network U.S.A. (HNNUSA) has learned that the author of the Latino Voting Bloc (LVB) Op-ed targeted at Governor Tony Evers (D) was Benjamin "Ben" Juarez, which seems to be a one man Facebook page operator attempting to capitalize on an issue. Also, a representative from Acción Ciudadana de Wisconsin (ACDW), a Hispanic Cuacus affiliated with Citizen Action of Wisconsin posted the following request for Juarez to remove certain photos of members from ACDW posted in the LVB FB page to be immediately removed. The posted request reads, "Please remove this picture from your page as we do not want to be associated with this page. Thanks!"
Juarez was contacted via e-mail on Friday by HNNUSA for comment and asked, if he would comply with the request to remove the photos that were singled out. Juarez has not responded to the HNNUSA inquiry.