Ousted Leader of Latino Group Protests Appointment of Anaya

Former New Mexico Gov. Toney Anaya was appointed head of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund on Monday, but was immediately challenged by the group’s fired president and general counsel.

Antonia Hernandez, the group’s head since August, 1985, issued a statement saying that her firing over the weekend by the civil rights group’s executive committee was “illegal and unfounded.” She said she is confident that she will prevail if the matter winds up in court.

However, MALDEF’s chairman, Eric P. Serna, defended the firing, saying: “We felt that it was time for a change and that we needed stronger national leadership.”

“We are truly excited to appoint an individual of such caliber and with the proven civil rights track record of former Governor Anaya,” Serna said in a telephone interview.

Pardons the Condemned

Anaya capped four controversial years as New Mexico governor in 1986, when he declared the state a sanctuary for Central Americans refugees and pardoned everyone on Death Row. He is to step in Feb. 1 as head of MALDEF.

The group has an annual budget of about $2.8 million and has been involved in numerous cases involving Mexican-Americans throughout the country. Founded in 1967, MALDEF is headquartered in Los Angeles and has offices in San Francisco, San Antonio, Chicago and Washington.

Anaya said he plans to open another office in Santa Fe, N.M. He said he will push for greater job opportunities for Hispanics, particularly in the media and large corporations, and will try to convince Hispanics to improve their traditionally weak voter turnout.

“One of the main problems of the Hispanic community is that we don’t take advantage of the opportunities that are there for us,” he said.

Hernandez, 38, said she considers herself MALDEF’s legitimate leader and enjoys the support of the majority of the group’s directors and staff. Eighteen of the group’s 34 board members have signed a petition calling for a meeting within the next month to review the action taken by the executive committee, she said. MALDEF’s annual meeting is scheduled for April.

“Should I have to go to court in the matter, I feel I will be vindicated,” she said.

Hernandez said the executive committee apparently decided in advance of the weekend meeting to dismiss her, adding, “I felt like a lamb being led to slaughter.”

MALDEF Chairman Serna said that bylaws allow the executive committee to act on its own in personnel matters, an interpretation that Hernandez disputes. The executive committee is made up of 16 of MALDEF’s directors. Their decision to fire Hernandez was “overwhelming,” Serna said.

He declined to discuss specific reasons for the firing, but Hernandez said the committee cited “a series of general reasons” including her hiring practices, lack of development of fund-raising and acting on her own without consulting the board on policy matters.

Anaya, 45, who left office on Dec. 31, had promised a progressive, liberal approach to New Mexican government, which until 1983 was prosperous as a result of healthy oil and gas and mining industries. Dropping revenues and an increasingly conservative Legislature set the stage for controversy.

In 1985, a fight between Anaya and conservative legislators resulted in the Legislature’s failure to appropriate funds to keep the Capitol open, prompting a special session just before the end of the fiscal year.

Anaya was frequently accused of meddling in the affairs of the departments under his control and made many headlines trying to replace members of various advisory and supervisory boards, commissions and regents.

Sanctuary Declared

By the end of his administration, Anaya’s approval rating in public opinion polls had dipped to about 12%. But he saved the most controversy until the end.

On Good Friday, March 28, 1986, Anaya proclaimed New Mexico a state of sanctuary for refugees from Guatemala and El Salvador, saying Reagan Administration policies were unfair to political refugees fearing U.S.-supported government retaliation.

The day before Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, 1986, Anaya issued executive orders commuting the death sentences of all five men on New Mexico’s Death Row to life in prison.

And on his last day in office, Anaya pardoned a former aide, John Ramming, from all but one of his convictions for his part in the diversion of $3 million in disaster agency money to a contractor friend.