A message to Latino elected officials

This week, Latino legislators and others will head out to the annual “Somos el Futuro” conference in Puerto Rico.

From its beginning, the Somos conference was designed as a vehicle to discuss the pressing needs of our community and develop a responsive agenda.

Leaders such as Assemblyman Francisco Moya are pushing for the NY Dream Act. Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez is supporting a wave of young leaders. Councilwoman Melissa Mark Viverito is turning participatory budgeting into a trend. And there is other encouraging work and signs among the 73 Hispanic elected officials in New York.

On other hand, we also have too many politicos who seem to be coasting through their terms. They don’t necessarily do anything wrong but they don’t push the envelope.

Our community doesn’t have this luxury. We can’t afford to have quiet or conformist leaders – be it on legislation or on life and death issues.

In the case of Noel Polanco, a young Puerto Rican-Colombian army guardsman fatally shot by a detective who has not even been disciplined, Latino elected officials did not even convene a press conference. Politicians flood our inbox with media advisories about ribbon-cuttings but not over the life of this young man who was serving his country.

The silence has been deafening not only on this case.

When Latina police officers complained that they were being targeted and reprimanded for speaking Spanish on the job, Hispanic leaders were quiet. The loudest voice out the gate was John Liu, who is not Latino, but a clear ally.

Lately, Latino police organizations have shown more leadership and visibility. When three Hispanic fraternal organizations that are not always on the same page banded together to call for Latino police commissioner, it showed political sophistication and a commitment to having Hispanics represented at the helm of this city. But where was their back up?

So a message to Latino leaders -elected and beyond: Get over your egos and grudges. Band together and act from a position of strength, as our community expects you to do.

There is too much at stake to not do so. Disconnected youth count on you. ELL students are counting on you. Immigrants are counting on you. And the people who paved your way to public service are counting on you.