By: Chris Hernandez
KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Local Latino leaders threaten legal action if their community is shut out of discussions about city council redistricting.
This battle has been brewing at City Hall and in communities all over the city:
The question: Who will be at the table when the most important political decision of the decade is made?
Kansas City's Hispanic leaders are now talking to civil rights lawyers about how to stop the process if they're not included.
They say they are so spread out on the city that they deserve representation.
For example, Taqueria Silvas has been open a few months in a location you might not expect.
It's at 18th and Cleveland, east of 18th and Vine, in the Third District, traditional home of the African-American community.
"Yea, I'm a bit surprised. It was interesting to see an authentic Mexican restaurant down here," said Mark Felkins a customer.
Latino leaders say three of the city's six council districts now now have a Latino population of more than ten percent.
That's why they're outraged that not a single Hispanic is on the city's new redistricting committee.
"We're appalled. We are no longer segregated in one neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. We are mainstream, and we need our elected officials to recognize that we have constituents throughout this city that they need to respond to," said John Fierro, the CEO of the Mattie Rhodes Center, a social service agency that serves predominately Hispanic clients.
The redistricting committee will recommend how to redraw city council lines.
That decision that could affect every political, policy and funding decision for a decade.
A coalition called the Hispanic Civic Engagement Project represents seven large non-profits like Mattie Rhodes and the Guadalupe Center, Inc.
Fierro says they submitted a list of Latino names to council members on July 28, but were completely shut out.
Read more: http://www.kshb.com/dpp/news/political/latino-community-feels-left-out-of-kcmo-redistricting#ixzz20AyK9vRL
Latino community feels left out of KCMO redistricting - NBCActionNews.com
KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Local Latino leaders threaten legal action if their community is shut out of discussions about city council redistricting.
This battle has been brewing at City Hall and in communities all over the city:
The question: Who will be at the table when the most important political decision of the decade is made?
Kansas City's Hispanic leaders are now talking to civil rights lawyers about how to stop the process if they're not included.
They say they are so spread out on the city that they deserve representation.
For example, Taqueria Silvas has been open a few months in a location you might not expect.
It's at 18th and Cleveland, east of 18th and Vine, in the Third District, traditional home of the African-American community.
"Yea, I'm a bit surprised. It was interesting to see an authentic Mexican restaurant down here," said Mark Felkins a customer.
Latino leaders say three of the city's six council districts now now have a Latino population of more than ten percent.
That's why they're outraged that not a single Hispanic is on the city's new redistricting committee.
"We're appalled. We are no longer segregated in one neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. We are mainstream, and we need our elected officials to recognize that we have constituents throughout this city that they need to respond to," said John Fierro, the CEO of the Mattie Rhodes Center, a social service agency that serves predominately Hispanic clients.
The redistricting committee will recommend how to redraw city council lines.
That decision that could affect every political, policy and funding decision for a decade.
A coalition called the Hispanic Civic Engagement Project represents seven large non-profits like Mattie Rhodes and the Guadalupe Center, Inc.
Fierro says they submitted a list of Latino names to council members on July 28, but were completely shut out.
Read more: http://www.kshb.com/dpp/news/political/latino-community-feels-left-out-of-kcmo-redistricting#ixzz20AyK9vRL
Latino community feels left out of KCMO redistricting - NBCActionNews.com
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