9
City, Sarasota, Salt Lake City, Tulsa, Las Vegas, and Greenville, approximately one-third of the potential
Latino workforce face similar linguistic challenges.
Findings and Discussion
Based on the levels of political incorporation presented by Browning, Marshall and Tabb (2003), all of the
communities in this study have low levels of political incorporation of Latino residents. Respondents were
asked during the last municipal election, how many Latinos ran for the elected positions of mayor, city
council, and municipal judge, if it also was an elected position. There were no Latino mayoral candidates in
any of the 18 study cities; however, one-third of the cities had Latinos competing for city council seats. A
total of nine Latinos campaigned for council positions in six cities, Orlando, Fort Worth, Tulsa, Las Vegas,
Albany, and Salt Lake City. In Fort Worth, Albany, and Las Vegas, two Latinos ran during the most recent
city elections, representing the most competitive electoral environment in the study. Most study cities did
not elect their municipal judges, but in Las Vegas, one Latino ran for the bench.
In vast majority of the study communities, there is not a single Latino elected official. The sole exception
was Tampa, where one Latino serves on the city council. So, while there are the beginnings of formalized
political participation in the electoral process, for the most part Latino candidacy has not resulted in
positive electoral results; for example, the aforementioned failed judicial candidacy in Las Vegas.
Where formal representation does exist, it is on boards or commissions and appears in most instances to be
only token representation (i.e. only one Latino member on a particular board or commission). Latino board
members most frequently served on human relations (HR)/civil rights commissions, as was found in 10 of
the 16 cities, or 62.5 percent of the cities.
2
Half of the cities had a Latino member on their police advisory
board. These findings are not surprising, as the role of the HR/civil rights commissions and police advisory
boards frequently focuses on issues of diversity and discrimination.
The library and arts boards in six cities (37.5 %), and parks and recreation boards in five cities (31.3%)
included Latino representation. These boards are concerned with quality of life issues in local communities.
Convention