Latino Councilwoman Survives Challenge Despite Tie to Wilson

By all indications, Rosario Marin should have taken a beating when she recently ran for a second term on the Huntington Park City Council.

After all, Marin had been Gov. Pete Wilson’s liaison to the Latino community for the last two years. She was the Spanish voice of an administration that was characterized by many Latino leaders as being anti-immigrant for Wilson’s support for Propositions 187 and 227.

In Huntington Park--a city that is 92% Latino and predominantly Democrat--Wilson is not a popular figure.

During the campaign, Marin’s critics made an issue of her ties to Wilson and bashed her for being a Republican. They compared her to La Malinche, the Indian mistress of Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortes, whom many consider a traitor for helping Cortes conquer Mexico.

But the election results surprised Marin’s critics: She was not only reelected but was the highest vote-getter in the city.

What happened? It depends on whom you ask.

Marin believes that the voters were able to distinguish between her role as Wilson’s spokeswoman and her long public service as a local elected official.

“The important thing is that the people know my record, and they know that I stand by my community,” she said.

She concedes that she did not play up her ties to Wilson during the campaign but said she also did not make a secret of it.

“Everybody knew that I worked for Wilson,” she said. “We didn’t think it was necessary [to emphasize it].”

Her critics, however, say she misled voters by glossing over her relationship to Wilson.

“She would never tell people she was involved with Pete Wilson because that would be a negative,” said Councilman Tom Jackson, a Marin critic who sent out about 3,000 campaign mailers with photos of Marin alongside Wilson.

Only one of the 10 campaign mailers that Marin sent during the campaign mentioned Wilson. In several other campaign pieces, Marin is pictured with Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy and President Bill Clinton.

But perhaps the biggest factor in Marin’s victory were the endorsements of several local Democratic Latino leaders, such as state Sen. Richard G. Polanco, Assemblyman Marco Antonio Firebaugh and Congressman Xavier Becerra.

Firebaugh described Marin as “among the best local officials in southeast Los Angeles County.”

A spokesman for Polanco said the senator endorsed her because of her history of advocacy for disabled children.

The endorsements helped neutralize the criticism.

“Third-party endorsements are particularly important when you are being attacked,” said political consultant Harvey Englander. “Basically, it defuses the attack.”

Name recognition also played a role.

Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, said Marin’s involvement in the Latino community made it difficult for her critics to tie her to Wilson as being anti-immigrant.

“This is where an individual transcends the label,” he said.

Marin, who came to California with her family from Mexico 26 years ago, has been a strong advocate for disabled children since her son, Eric, was born with Down’s syndrome in 1985. She helped form a support group for Latino parents with disabled children and lobbied for the rights of the disabled in Sacramento.

In 1994, she was elected to the council, where she has been a strong supporter of the city’s police force, helping the department secure a transit bus that was converted into a mobile police headquarters.

A few years ago, she single-handedly stopped the council from increasing the city’s utility tax from 3% to 9%. The council needed the vote of four out of five council members to pass the increase. But there were only four members on the board at the time, and Marin wouldn’t go along with her colleagues.

The council eventually settled on a 7% utility tax.

Marin’s pro-police record probably helped her campaign because gangs and crime are one of the biggest concerns in the area.

Salvador Avila, owner of El Ranchito restaurant in Huntington Park, said he voted for Marin because of her support for law enforcement.

“She helped fight the gangs and the taggers,” he said in Spanish. “There is no more paint on our walls.”

Marin was the top vote-getter in a field of eight, receiving 1,295 votes, or 20% of the ballots. All three incumbents were reelected.

Final campaign finance records for the race have yet to be released, but officials from the three incumbents say each raised about the same amount, just over $30,000.

During the campaign, Marin was forced to make clear her own position on Proposition 187, which sought to cut services to illegal immigrants; Proposition 227, the anti-bilingual education initiative; and Proposition 209, which targeted affirmative action programs.

All three initiatives were supported by Wilson but were harshly attacked by Latino leaders.

Marin’s critics say that she supported the measures during her tenure with Wilson but changed her tune during the council campaign--a charge Marin rejects.

“She convinced Polanco and Firebaugh that she was against Proposition 187 when she wasn’t,” said Councilwoman Jessica Maes, one of Marin’s harshest critics.

Marin’s critics cite several appearances by Marin in the Spanish language media where she defended Wilson’s policies.

Marin said she was simply doing her job as Wilson’s spokeswoman.

“I could never under that position express my own opinions,” she said.

Marin said she has always opposed Proposition 187 because she believes that it would hurt immigrant children. She said she opposed 209 because minority businesses are still at a disadvantage in getting public contracts.

As for Proposition 227, the measure to eliminate bilingual education, Marin would only say that she did not support it.

Marin’s job ended when Wilson left office in January. She now works for a company that teaches English through books and audiotapes.

Marin, who worked in a bank before becoming a full-time children’s advocate, came to the attention of the Wilson administration through her work for disabled children. Her work won her the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy award in 1995.

Wilson hired Marin in 1992 as legislative analyst for the Department of Developmental Services. She later was appointed to the state Council on Developmental Disabilities. In 1997, she was hired as deputy director of Wilson’s office of community relations in Los Angeles.

In that job, she represented Wilson to the Latino community. But she said she also represented the Latino community within the Wilson administration.

“I was very privileged to have represented my community in the administration,” she said. “I don’t regret it at all.”