2011 Denver Latino Commission

Sub Committee Goals

PUBLIC SAFETY 

Goal:  To educate, recommend and influence public safety policies that affect the Denver Latino community, while maintaining a proactive approach on these issues.

Action Steps:  

·        Keep appraised of and identify emerging issues affecting the Denver Latino community and the City & County of Denver.

·        Respond quickly to issues negatively affecting and impacting the Denver Latino community and the City & County of Denver.

·        Craft our action to best fit the specific issue.

EDUCATION

Goal: To assess the state of education in DPS and the State of Colorado and how it affects the Latino population.

Action Steps:

·        Tracking state legislation relevant to Denver, ie access to higher education

·        Access to Higher Education including affordability

·        Analyze and disseminate the data of DPS drop-out rates

·        Identify successful programs in ELA

·        Become informed regarding the content and EL Standards and disseminating within the community

·        Look at the new state standards and how it will affect our student population

HEALTH

Goal:  To increase access to health care for Latino(a)s in Denver.

Action Steps:

• Monitor health care reform issues as they develop
• Identify organizations charged with educating the community on health reform; partner and/or challenge them to learn about emerging issues
• Inform the Mayor about emerging issues

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Goal:  Job growth by creating opportunities for small business by advocating for open vendor procurement in the City

Action Steps: We first must determine if the percentage of vendors contracting with the City is reflective of the jurisdictional make-up of the City.  We will research three things: 

(1)   What the process is currently

a.       We will work to partner with the Denver Business Center to determine the current process and its effectiveness. 

(2)   How and where it is communicated

a.       We will partner with other Latino organizations adept at such communications to determine medium, scope, reach, frequency, and effectiveness, including but not limited to the Hispanic Chamber and the Latina Chamber.

(3)   What languages the process is communicated in

a.       We will determine if the current process (printed or otherwise) is equally accessible to Spanish-speaking communities

Implementation Vehicle:  After compiling this information, we will begin to advocate for open vendor procurement efforts in the City.  Via letter, we will reach out to all mayor/mayoral candidates and ask them to commit to a policy on economic development with minority owned business.  We will note in our letter that this is a budget neutral proposal that could reap significant economic growth for our community. We will also emphasize that given the City’s budget crisis, the impact on small business from Citywide tax strategies and other fees should be monitored and continued efforts should be placed on redevelopment efforts for lower income areas.  We will finally encourage public/private partnerships in all efforts. 

IMMIGRATION

Goal: Increase community and internal awareness

Action Steps:  We will strategize with other organizations regarding upcoming immigration legislative initiatives, including in-state tuition, workers rights and Arizona copycat laws.

Implementation Vehicle:  We will partner with pre-established organizations to increase awareness of current resources for the general community.  We will promote such efforts on our website and look for other cross-functional communication opportunities.  We will also ask Commission members to attend and distribute materials at community events and report back to the Commission on progress.  Finally, we will emphasize upward communication to City leaders, penning a letter to the mayor detailing the current legislation and implications on our community and asking the mayor to support and actively work against legislation that makes Denver a hostile environment for our community members. 

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