Pasadena City Council Passes Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month Resolution

FOR IMMEDIATE RELASE October 16, 2012

                                                                                                            CONTACT: Stella R. Murga (626) 808-5059

Pasadena, CA- In a historic vote, the Pasadena City Council unanimously passed a resolution declaring that each year from September 15 through October 15, the City of Pasadena will celebrate Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month.

The resolution was first introduced by Stella Murga, spokesperson for the Pasadena Latino Coalition (PLC), a broad-based alliance of local nonprofit and grassroots civic organizations, with the support of diverse community groups at the October 1st council meeting. The motion to adopt the resolution was made two weeks later by Councilmember Victor Gordo and seconded by Councilmember Steve Madison and passed unanimously. The resolution comes at a significant time in the City's history, as both the City Council and Pasadena Unified School District have worked to ensure fair representation of the area's Latino population, and the increased recognition of the role Latinos have played in the history of Pasadena. "This resolution is a good way of recognizing and celebrating the many contributions Latinos have made and make everyday to this country and this city," said Stella Murga.

This victory also comes on the eve of the Pasadena Latino Coalition's first year anniversary. In 2011, the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) convened a coalition of Pasadena organizations that serve the Latino community, and thus the PLC came to be. The Coalition has been meeting regularly for over a year to move PLC's strategy forward, which is to seek social justice and fair representation for the Latino community in the greater Pasadena area.

"The Latino community in Pasadena has a history of being disenfranchised, we make up 33% of the population in this city and yet we do not have access to adequate housing, and are not fairly represented in elected or appointed office, PLC was formed to change that, " said Alex Nogales, President and CEO of the Pasadena-based NHMC, and a founding member of the PLC.