Cityhood for East L.A.

Oscar Gonzales has made a lifetime commitment to public service and social justice. Today he serves as Associate Director of the UFW Foundation which is based in East Los Angeles. Oscar helps oversee federal immigration policy and is ensuring that farm workers have a voice in the current debate.

Previously, Oscar served as the California Director of the National Hispanic Environmental Council and helped create a link between the Latino community and environmental initiatives. His introduction to politics began while working for then Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa overseeing education and community empowerment issues. In 1998, first as a campaign staff member then later as a senior outreach advisor to Governor Gray Davis, Oscar helped recruit and appoint individuals to state environmental agencies. He also served as the Administration’s liaison to the Latino community and made sure his community had a voice. Recently, in recognition of his commitment to the environment former Vice President Al Gore selected Oscar to be part of his team on the fight against global warming.

At a very early age Oscar understood the importance of developing leadership and community organizing skills to make an impact in the lives of others. In high school and while a student at East L.A. College he served as student body president and fought for students and changed district wide policies. After studying at the UC San Diego where he majored in political science he returned home to a community that was engulfed in flames by the L.A Riots and torn by racial tension. He immediately began working for Youth Task Force L.A., a project of the Constitutional Rights Foundation and helped launch a city wide initiative that engaged high school students and parents around community service projects. As a volunteer, Oscar mentored at risk youth and coached basketball at Garfield High School and at the local housing projects. It was President Clinton’s domestic Peace Corps initiative AmeriCorps which directed him toward public service. In his hometown of East L.A. and through AmeriCorps Oscar helped create a K thru 12 partnership. He was later recruited to work directly for the Clinton Administration at the newly created Corporation for National Service under Western States Director and former L.A. Councilman Michael Woo. During this time Oscar also taught part time courses to foster care youth at the L.A. Community College District.

Oscar’s commitment to working families goes beyond politics and civic participation programs. He is always seeking ways to level the economic playing field. His father was a union leader at the United Auto Workers during the 60’s and 70’s at Norris Industries in the City of Vernon, his involvement had a lasting impact on his son. Oscar Jr. still recalls leafleting and picketing alongside factory workers in the name of justice. Years later, he would work for the late union leader Miguel Contreras and help defeat anti-labor initiatives, elect candidates, and create community coalitions. Oscar also assisted home care workers establish one of this nation’s largest unions, SEIU 434B. It was in the year 2000 that Oscar put his negotiation and organizing skills to the test by serving as Director of Labor Affairs for the Democratic National Convention in 2000. He will always honor hard working men and women and their right to organize in the workplace.

Today, Oscar resides in the City Terrace area of East L.A. and is very active in community affairs. He serves as President of the newly created East Los Angeles Residents Association and is a co-founder of the Latino and African American Leadership Alliance. Together with his wife Christine Chavez who serves as Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero’s District Director, they are helping to raise their sixteen year old nephew Adrian who is a student at Wilson High School.

Benjamin Cardenas was born in East Los Angeles in 1979. At age five, his family moved to Michoacan, Mexico to once again resettle in his parent’s country of origin. Benjamin was raised in Mexico until age thirteen.

After eight years, Benjamin found himself, once again, in East Los Angeles as an English as a Second Language student at Griffith Middle School. From his experiences at Griffith Middle School and later at Garfield High School, Benjamin learned first-hand the struggles faced by recent immigrants to this country and the challenges for our youth within the educational system. Despite the obstacles he faced, Benjamin graduated Garfield High School as a high achieving student and went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Upon graduating in 2002, Benjamin married his college sweetheart Mirna Cardenas, and moved to our nation’s capital (Washington, D.C.) to participate in the prestigious Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Fellowship. As a CHCI Fellow, Benjamin worked in the office of Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard. From his experiences in the United States House of Representatives, Benjamin was reassured that through political involvement he could help others overcome obstacles they might encounter.

After completing the 10 month Fellowship program, Benjamin returned to his home town as a Field Representative for Congresswoman Graciela F. Napolitano (38th Congressional District).

Today, Benjamin is the Deputy District Director for Congresswoman Grace F. Napolitano. He serves as the Vice President for the East Los Angeles Residents Association, President of the Southern Region CHCI Alumni Association and has recently joined the Eastmont Community Center Board of Directors. He and his wife are proud parents of a beautiful 3 year old daughter, Alondra Dulcinea.

Diana B. Tarango was born in East Los Angeles in 1935 and has never moved from where she grew up. She is a very active member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, where she attended grammar school, and upon graduating attended Sacred Heart High School. She went on to East Los Angeles College and majored in Psychology.

In 1980 she found herself very displeased with the conditions at Safeway supermarket in East los Angeles. She noticed the difference in the conditions of Safeway supermarkets in other areas. At that time there was a grassroots organization in East Los Angeles called United Neighborhood Organization (UNO). She joined and became President and served from 1982 to 1984.

She was a member of the Committee to Save Belvedere Park when it was being considered for building a school on the site.

She organized a group of concerned residents and had meetings at her home to find a way to improve the conditions of the area around the Evergreen Cemetery that was being used for walking and jogging. After several meetings with elected officials we now have the Evergreen jogging path.

In 1995 she was nominated as Chairperson for the Review Advisory Committee (RAC) Gold Line into East Los Angeles and continues to serve in that capacity. She is a member of the Community Advisory Committee for the Sheriffs Department (CAC), and currently the Chairperson of the Building and Safety Commission for the County of Los Angeles. She was also nominated Woman of the Year by the State Majority Leader Gloria Romero of the 24th Senate District.

Diana has been married for 48 years to Raul and raised 2 sons. She has 4 grandchildren whom she enjoys spending time with. Today, she is employed by Dart Warehouse Corporation and has been an employee for 35 years. Diana lives in East Los Angeles, works in East Los Angeles and attends church in East Los Angeles.

Alberto Palacios has lived and worked in East Los Angeles for thirty-two and thirty-five years respectively. Originally from Texas, he was born and raised in the city of Houston. Palacios graduated from Sam Houston High School and when on to study at the University of Houston. He moved to California and completed his BA and secondary teaching credential at Cal State University Los Angeles. Palacios began his teaching career at Garfield High School in 1973 and taught there for 35 years until his retirement in 2008. He taught Social Studies including US History/US Government and economics.

The issue of Cityhood for East Los Angeles was brought up in one of Palacios’ government classes in 2003. His students inquired as to why East L.A. was surrounded by cities yet it was not itself a city nor part of a city. Students learned that the last effort to incorporate East L.A. was in 1974 and that the proposal failed to get a majority of votes. There had been no serious effort to address the question of Cityhood since then. As students of government, they were assigned a project. Their assignment was to involve the various segments of the community in public discussion on the pros and cons of Cityhood for East L.A. Year after year, as part of the curriculum, each class was assigned the task of initiating public discourse on the question of Cityhood for East L.A. Students generated bumper stickers, miniature flags, post cards, t-shirts, and other means of raising social consciousness regarding this topic.

After several years the idea found fertile ground. Thanks to the efforts of Garfield students and others from the community, the idea to incorporate East L.A. has taken root and is stimulating discussion throughout the country.

Yobany E. Chacon was born in the city of Los Angeles in 1979 and resided in different areas of Los Angeles County during his childhood. During his grammar school years, Yobany lived in the city of Hollywood before moving to East Los Angeles where he attended Griffith Middle School as an honor student. Upon enrolling in Garfield High School advanced education program, due to family circumstances, Yobany was forced to move to Long Beach and commute to Garfield High School each and every day on public transportation. He was dedicated to continuing his education at Garfield High School not only because he wanted to maintain the friendships he had created in Griffith Middle School but more importantly because he understood that a change in high schools might affect his future as a college student. Furthermore, Yobany wanted to maintain his ties to the East Los Angeles community by continuing to be a member of a local church called, La Luz Del Mundo, which sits right across from historic Belvedere Park.

After graduating high school, Yobany attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology. He was then accepted into UCLA’s School of Law where he graduated with his Juris Doctorate in the summer of 2006.

Yobany is currently the President of the Association of Professionals and Students (APS), a non-profit organization that provides social, economic and educational programs that focus on empowering low-income communities such as the community of East Los Angeles and is currently the secretary of the East Los Angeles Residents Association (ELARA) while also pursuing his career in the legal field. His work consists of helping young students and community members pursue higher education and at the same time provide an avenue to give back to the community through their profession. Today he is not only working on giving back to the community but also helping to elevate the East Los Angeles community to the level it deserves which is Cityhood.