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Leading Madison Latinos like Dave

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Also by Courtney Johnson:

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by Courtney Johnson

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Despite a prominent local Latino leader running for mayor, several members of the same ethnic community have publicly expressed their support for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s re-election campaign.

In a letter submitted by 13 of the community’s leaders, Cieslewicz is lauded for his willingness to address issues important to Madison-area Latinos.

“This has been really the first time that we saw there was someone in the City Hall that was really listening to the issues and ideas of the Latino community,” said Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, vice chair of the Latino Health Council of Dane County and executive committee member of the Latino Support Network.

Running against Cieslewicz this spring is Peter Muñoz, who serves as executive director of the Madison nonprofit organization Centro Hispano. The Latino leader is currently on leave from his position while he pursues his bid for mayor.

Although Muñoz said many people have come out in support of his campaign, the letter of endorsement makes no mention of him.

“I’m not running as a Latino, I’m running as a Madisonian,” Muñoz said. “I’m not asking for any endorsements — I know the mayor has been quite busy chasing around endorsements.”

Bidar-Sielaff, who is one of the 13 leaders who submitted the endorsement, is also a member of the mayor’s newly created Latino Community Steering Committee.

Cieslewicz, who is seeking a second term as mayor, said he is pleased with the community’s demonstration of support.

“They looked at my record, and they saw that in the last four years we’ve gotten a lot done in regard to issues that are important to the Latino community,” Cieslewicz said. “I think they believe, since we got so much done in the last four years, that that’s a good indication of the progress we’ll make in the next four years.”

Cieslewicz also emphasized his commitment to immigrant-related issues and his participation in last April’s immigrant rights movement.

By beginning his campaign at the end of last year, Muñoz formally announced his candidacy after the current mayor had already declared his intention to seek re-election. Many of these endorsements for Cieslewicz were made before he announced his mayoral bid, Muñoz added.

Muñoz said he would not expect Latino community members to retract their support for another candidate because he announced his candidacy.

“The only endorsement I’m looking for is that of the voters,” Muñoz said.

The endorsement letter also cites Cieslewicz’s ability to make himself available to community members. In particular, the Latino community expressed their gratitude to the mayor for attending their meetings and events. Pedro Albiter, president of the Madison Festival Committee, said the mayor has spoken at his organization’s meetings whenever possible.

“He’s willing to work with us, and this is what we need: A person who listens,” said Albiter, who is also one of the leaders who submitted the letter of endorsement.

The mayoral candidates will be narrowed down from four to two in a Feb. 20 primary, with Election Day set for April 3. In addition to Cieslewicz and Muñoz, Ray Allen and Will Sandstrom have also announced their candidacy.

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Anonymous (January 23, 2007 @ 9:31am):

Shiva Bidar-Sielaff is NOT Latina. She is Spanish. There is a difference, a big difference, which has been obfuscated in this letter for campaign purposes.

Anonymous (January 23, 2007 @ 1:48pm):

I have a question. Is an Italian or a Spaniard considered to be a Latino?

By definition, a latino means "of or relating to the peoples or countries using Romance languages"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latino

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