Organizers hope to register 10,000 Latino voters

By VICKI ADAME / Vida en el Valle
(Published Wednesday, July 26th, 2006 09:41AM)

STOCKTON — Following the massive marches of May 1 one question lingered — what's next?

For people in San Joaquín County the answer is simple — get eligible people registered to vote.

Proyecto de las Voces del Valle, a coalition of local unions and activists, aims to register 10,000 Latino voters by the October deadline to be eligible for the November election. The nonpartisan effort is being done in partnership with the Clean Water Fund.

Proyecto de las Voces del Valle held its first meeting July 1 to gather ideas and discuss the best ways to register voters.

Local activist Angel Picón said that following the May 1 immigrant rights march people kept asking him what happened next, to which he responded, "Getting people registered to vote."

"The only way we can make those changes is getting people registered to vote and getting them out to vote," Picón said.

Groups often wait until a month and a half before the elections to begin voter registration drives, Picón said.

"Why not start it now? There's nothing constructive if we're just talking. We cannot keep waiting for something (to happen) to react," he said.

And Latinos are the swing vote Picon said.

The Clean Water Fund has already registered more than 1,000 voters in a month's time.

"We've been on the ground over the past few months, but there's a lot more to be done to make bigger impacts," said Brett Richer of the Clean Water Fund during the organizational meeting in Stockton.

Among those attending the meeting were members of the Stockton Teachers Association.

Eliyahu Rabin said the association believes it is very important for all Americans to participate in the nation's democracy.

"Exercising your right to vote is important in having a voice in determining this country's direction," Rabin said.

The meeting on July 1 allowed them to learn about the opportunity to work with other organizations to help register new voters.

"We'd like to explore what the community as a whole, with us playing our part, can do together in raising the awareness of the importance in casting a ballot," Rabin said.

For more information or to join Proyecto de las Voces del Valle, call Picón at (209) 401-9663.

Send e-mail to: vadame@vidaenelvalle.com

Stockton Record

No foxes guard this 'henhouse'

In response to a Dec. 9 editorial in The Record "It's time to clean up their act", one would be hard-pressed to find someone in the agricultural business who would allow a fox to guard their henhouse.

These are wise folks, and they understand the consequences of trusting someone to protect the very thing they covet.

They also understand how this concept can work to their advantage, which is why they continue to advocate for "self-regulation" of their irrigation practices.

We agree it's high time the Central Valley Regional Water Control Board says, "No."

It's time to put the environmental cop on the beat and hold those responsible for polluting and draining our waterways fully accountable.

A good farmer would expect nothing less.

Erich Pfuehler
Clean Water Action
San Francisco

From readers

Hetch Hetchy plan

Your Dec.2 editorial announcing consensus between environmentalists and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission was a bit premature [“Welcome consensus on Hetch Hetchy”].

We do applaud the SFPUC for heeding its expert consultants and eliminating the expensive and unnecessary fourth San Joaquin pipeline from its program. But that program still calls for an additional 25 million gallons per day to be drawn from the Tuolumne River.

The SFPUC service area lags far behind other parts of the state in modern water management — conservation, recycling, stormwater reuse and groundwater.

“Consensus” will be reached when the SFPUC and suburban customers commit to a local investment in sustainable water supply options rather than reliance on an overtaxed Tuolumne River.

Erich Pfuehler
State Director
Clean Water Action