Sacramento Bee

By Edgar Sanchez
Sacramento Bee Staff Writer

Wednesday, August 3, 2005

Esteban Salinas, 16, wants to be California's governor.

Citlali Armijo, 17, is aiming higher. She dreams of being president of the United States.

The two are among 140 high school juniors and seniors from across California attending this week's 23rd annual Chicano/Latino Youth Leadership Project in Sacramento.

For a week, the emerging leaders are learning from a potent lineup of speakers, ranging from legislators to school board members, what it takes to win local and statewide elective office.

The group will spend time at the state Capitol, meeting politicians and holding mock legislative hearings on hot-button issues such as school mascots.

Pursuing power is what the nonpartisan conference is all about, said Max Espinoza, president of the Youth Leadership Project board and an executive with the California Student Aid Commission.

The election of Antonio Villaraigosa as mayor of Los Angeles is the type of motivator that will spur the students to throw their own hats into political campaigns, Espinoza said.

"Not only is it our hope that one or several of these students will become elected officials, but you can count on it," Espinoza said.

The students also are being encouraged to enter other demanding fields, such as engineering and medicine, and a college education is the first step.

Without a college degree they may end up working at McDonald's, Rene Aguilera, a trustee of the Roseville City School District, said during Tuesday's workshop on campaign development.

"It's important that our young people feel confident in their ability to lead in our communities, in the business world, and in society," said Aguilera, who was a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.

He urged the students to return to their communities ready to be involved in barrio matters, and to run for the school board or some other local body before seeking higher office.

"There have been so many great speakers, giving us so much information," said Salinas, a Davis High School student whose plan is to run for governor after succeeding in private business.

"To really change the way things work, you have to go into the inside and make changes," said Salinas, who is half Latino, half Chinese American.

"You also must use your knowledge to open doors, to create opportunities" for others, he said.

Presidential hopeful Armijo already is a president-elect in her hometown of Palm Desert in Riverside County. This fall, she will serve as student body president at Palm Desert High School.

Making her first visit to California's capital, Armijo said she had never mingled with so many Spanish-speaking students.

"My school is primarily Caucasian," she said.

In college, "I may major in public policy," she added. "But I also want to work with people and help people."

Tania Ortega, 17, of Glendale likely won't be a politician. Instead, she plans a career "in something like nursing or hospital administration."

"I think I can be a leader," the shy student said.

For many years, California had few, if any, Latino legislators. But that has changed.

The first two Latino legislators in modern history were elected in 1962, according to the Web site of the Latino Legislative Caucus.

Today, the caucus has 28 members, all Democrats. Eighteen of them serve in the Assembly, nine in the Senate. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante is also a member.

Believing more Latino legislators are needed, concerned Latino educators launched the annual youth conference in 1982. The Latino Legislative Caucus became its main sponsor in the late 1990s.

The Hispanic Caucus, currently consisting of two Republicans - one from the Senate, one from the Assembly - provides speakers for the conference but no financial support.

The Latino Legislative Caucus "holds a golf tournament every year to raise most of the $140,000 needed," said Espinoza, who was a student at the 1992 conference.

On Monday, the students saw "Yo Soy La-tina!" in a theater at California State University, Sacramento, a co-sponsor of the conference and host for most of its events.

The empowering, 90-minute play - whose title translates as "I Am Latina!" - examines what it's like to be a Latina in the United States.

The six-member professional cast from New York, led by actress/playwright Linda Nieves-Powell, ends with a woman gazing into the audience and shouting:

"Let me be who I need to be!"