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UMASS/AMHERST U31EDbb 0277 73M7 3 Latinos in Massachusetts: POLITICAL REPRESENTATION TheMauricioGaston Institute Who's in Charge? Appointments of Latinos to forLatino CommunityDevelopment and PublicPolicy Policymaking Offices and Boards in Massachusetts by Carol Hardy-Fanta Th.hee Mauricio Gaston Institute ofthe INTRODUCTION As THE Latino population in Massachusetts University ofMassachusetts Boston conducts CONTINUES TO GROW,THERE HAS BEEN A CORRE- research on andfor the Latino population. SPONDING INCREASE INTHE NUMBER OF LaTINOS A goalis togenerate the kind ofinformation ACHIEVING ELECTED OFFICETHROUGHOUTTHE STATE. Twenty years ago there was only one Latino andanalysis necessary to develop soundpublic serving in elected office in Massachusetts—Nelson policy, and to improve Latino participation Merced. In 1995, there were only fourelected officials whowere Latino and no state representatives. Today, in thepolicy-makingprocess. The Gaston through the hard work ofcandidates, activists, and Institute has produced this series offactsheets Latino community activists and organizations, there in an effort to presentup-to-date information arethree Latinos servingasstate legislators, fourteen holding municipal office, and an increasing number about the issues affecting Latinos in a number ofcampaigns at all levels of municipal and state ofkey areas: Education, Health, Housing, government being conducted.^ While this is good news for the prospects of Immigration, andPoliticalRepresentation. Latinos/as gaining influence in state and local government, a less visible but equally important question is. Have there been similar gains in Latino state-level executive branch leadership through gubernatorial appointments to top executive positions and regulatory boards? In the present climate of severe budget cuts, state-level executive branch appointees are at the center ofpoHcy influence - advising the governor and making key decisions about all aspects of public policy. The presence - or absence - of Latinos in top advisory positions and as members of boards, commissions, and authorities can make a great difference in policy decision-making in eco- nomics, education, health, public safety, community development, labor, transportation and construction, Acknowledgements human services, and the judicial system - all of The author would like to thank Paige Ransford, which have a direct impact on Latino communities. M.S., research assistant forthis project, for her The Latino "appointment gap" is indeed strik- skills in securing and compiling all the data ing: A survey conducted in 1997 of appointments to required forthis study, and the GastonInstitute forproviding financial support forthe research. top policy-makingpositionsrevealedthat, nationally, "Latinos are the onlygroupthat is underrepresented fA The Mauricio Gaston Institute, University ofMassachusetts Boston, loo Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA02125 I T. 617.287.5790 UBOMSATSOSN among appointed policy leaders in every Secretary ofState's office. Finally, we one Latino appointed. Only2 percent state." According to the survey, whites examined the listings in the current issue of boards, commissions, and authorities made up 87 percent of the top policy ofthe Massachusetts Political Almanac had more than a token presence of leaders appointed by governors and, (2001) tocounthow many Latinosthere Latinos,which suggeststhat, evenwhere whilepeople ofcolor made up25 percent are in appointed ortop-level staffposi- there have been Latino members, they of the population, they held only 12 tionsin thevarious executive-level offices. may not have sufficient presence to percent ofpolicy leadership posts in Percentages ofLatinos appointed influence public policy at a level that the United States.^ to boards, commissions, authorities, and reflects their presence in the population. We undertook this study to answer advisorycommittees are estimates of the question. How are Latinos doing cumulative appointment patterns, not Figure 1. in gaining access to the commissions, an analysis ofthose currently serving LatinoAppointments as Percent ofTotal boards, and authorities thatmake key on these boards, commissions, and Latinos policy decisions affecting Latino authorities. Some appointment dates communities in Massachusetts? What were old (in the 1980s and, in a few we found was alarming and should cases, earlier). Since the Secretary of serve as a call to action for Latino State's office does not remove leaders and communities. appointees from the lists unless they receive a letter specifically requesting Study Design it, it was not possible from these data 97.8% Our goal in this study was firstto to determine who was still on a given CALCULATE HOW MANY LaTINOS HAVE board. We estimated more recent Source: Massachusetts Office ofthe BEEN APPOINTED TO POLICY-MAKING Secretary ofState, 12/31/01; N=6228 appointments by counting those POSITIONS ATTHE EXECUTIVE LEVEL appointmentsmade no laterthan 1990. IN STATE GOVERNMENT AND ON THE The number ofLatinos appointed Regulatory and Advisory Boards: ADVISORY AND REGULATORY BOARDS, to top-level posts ofcommissioners, Where Are the Latinos? COMMISSIONS,AND AUTHORITIES THAT directors, secretaries, etc., ofexecutive- We EXAMINED Latino membership on SET POLICY IN THE COMMONWEALTH. level offices, however, is current. THEVARIOUS REGULATORYANDADVISORY The second goal was to estimate how Using Spanish surnames toestimate BOARDS, COMMISSIONS,AND AUTHORI- close Latinos are to gaining a level of Latino representation in state govern- TIES WITHIN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. representation in those positions that ment posts is less than satisfactory Latinos make up only 1.34 percent of matches their 6.8 percent share ofthe and may miss Latinos who do not the total appointments made by the gov- state's population. have recognizable Latino names. ernor to the thirteen executive offices To achieve these goals, we first While some Latinos were undoubtedly (44 out of 3,285 appointments). Even secured lists from Office ofthe Secretary missed, thetotal count is more Hkely ifyou include only appointments made of State that included the branch or to overestimate the percentage of in 1990 or after (and include all Latino office name, board number and title, Latinos because when in doubt, we appointments), the percentage increases appointing authority (governor, mayor, counted the individual as a Latino. only slightly to 1.8 percent (44 out of commissioner, etc.), and names of 2506 appointments). This indicates that, individual appointees. We selected Few Latinos Appointed to at the highest level of policy making, appointments made by the governor State Boards even fewer Latinos are appointed to (or with approval by the governor) Data provided bythe Office ofthe these boards, commissions, and authori- and first counted the number oftotal Secretary of State listed atotal ties than to boards, commissions, and appointments in each position and on of 6228 individuals appointed authorities as a whole (see table 1). each board, commission, and authority. either bythe governor orwiththe Gubernatorial appointments to The next step was to determine which governor's APPROVAL REQUIRED. four executive offices have included of the appointees should be counted Among those included on the list were no Latinos. These offices include the as "Latino." Following established 139 Latinos, representing 2.2 percent Executive Offices of Communities and practices, we used Spanish surname ofthe total (seefigure 1). Excluding Development (which handles policy (and, where necessary, first name). boards/positions that were repealed or making in the areas of housing and We also determined how many no longer active, there were 135 Latinos neighborhood services); Transportation Latinos currently hold appointments to out ofa total of6053 appointments and Construction (which includes the top posts in government by analyzing (still 2.2 percent). boards ofMassport, the MBTA, and data on appointments to the level of A majority ofboards, commissions, the Turnpike Authority); Elder Affairs; commissioner, director, executive director, and authorities, 802 out of 900 (89.1 and Energy Resources. secretary, etc., ofthe various executive percent), had no Latinos appointed. In five offices. Latino appointments offices by analyzing data from the Another eighty (8.9 percent) had only were below 2 percent, including the Table i total justices, for example. Less than 2 Latino Appointments to Executive Offices percent oftrial court justices have been Totalappointed No. of Latino/a, and there has never been a Office since 1990 Latinos % Latino/a appointed to the State Supreme ExecutiveOfficeofCommunitiesand Development 105 0 0 Judicial Court. Executive Office ofTransportation and Construction 37 0 0 Executive Office ofElderAffairs ..a... 0 0 Where Are We Now? The Current Executive Office ofEnergy Resources 23 0 0 Status of Latino Appointments Executive OfficeofConsumerAffairs and to get a current snapshot of Business Regulations 200 1 0.3 Latino representation at the top Executive OfficeofLaborAffairs 146 1 0.7 Executive Office ofEnvironmentalAffairs 239 2 0.7 levels OF government, we first Executive Office ofPublic Safety 279 4 1.4 examined gubernatorial appoint- Medical Examiners and PublicAdministrators 58 1 1-7 ments TO THE eighty EXECUTIVE-LEVEL ExecutiveOffice ofAdministration and Finance _ 205 4 2-0 POSITIONS OF THE ACTIVE EXECUTIVE Executive Office ofHealth and Human Services 457_ 11 .2,4 BRANCH OFFICES,WITH SUCH TITLES Executive Office ofEconomic Development AS Commissioner, Deputy and ManpowerAffairs 228 6 2.6 Commissioner, Director, Executive Director, and Secretary, etc. The Source: Office ofthe Secretary ofState, Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, 12/31/01. data indicate that no Latinos currently hold any ofthese top state-level executive branch positions.^ We also used the listings in the Executive Office of Public Safety, with ing) include no Latinos appointed most recent Massachusetts Political only 4 out of279 appointments given bythe governor. Almanac.''There are currentlyno Latinos to Latinos. Low Latino representation The best record of Latino guberna- among the top-level staff (either on this board is particularly important torial appointments (68 out of 886 appointed to topposts or hired within because ofits policy-making role in appointments, or 7.7 percent) is for the top tiers) ofthe Office ofthe corrections, criminal justice, and state the boards, advisory committees, and Governor, orthe Offices ofthe Attorney police matters. Other offices with simi- commissions that are outside the execu- General, Secretary of the Common- larly low Latino appointment patterns tive branch, including those established wealth, State Treasurer, Elder Affairs, are Labor Affairs; Consumer Affairs by executive order. These include such Environmental Affairs, Health and and Business Regulations; and specialized boards as the Governor's Human Services (which includes the Environmental Affairs. Commission on the Status ofWomen, Department of Public Health and the The offices which have better Commission on Indian Affairs, Department ofTransitional Assistance); records ofLatinoappointments include Commission on Puerto Rican and Public Safety, Transportation and the Executive Offices ofHealth and Hispanic Affairs, and advisory commit- Construction, Housingand Community Human Services (2.4 percent); Economic tees such as the Governor's Advisory Development, Labor and Workforce Development and Manpower Affairs Committee on Children and the Family, Development (which includes the (2.6 percent); and Education (3.1 per- as well as the Boston Metropolitan Division ofEmployment andTraining), cent). It should be kept in mind, however, District, the Metropolitan Area Council, Comptroller, Board/Department of that "better" is a relative term: These and the State Ethics Committee. The Education, or the Massachusetts percentages are still well below the relative power of these boards and Turnpike Authority.^There are no Latinopopulation share of6.8 percent. commissions is directly correlated to Latinos on the SupremeJudicial Court, the degree of Latino representation on Latino Appointments to Legal either as justices or within the top staff. and Electoral Boards them: the State Ethics Committee has no None ofthe appointments to the post Latinos, the Metropolitan Area Planning Boards, authorities, and commis- Council has two Latinos, and the Puerto ofChiefJustice ofthe Trial Courts or sions UNDERTHE OFFICE OFTHE Rican and Hispanic Affairs Commission's to top administrative positions in the Attorney General (which includes Administrative Office of the Trial THE Victim and Witness Assistance twelve appointments are all Latino. Courts are Latino. Judicial appointments deserve Board and the Local District special attention. Sixteen out of 337 In the Executive Office of Admin- Election Review Commission) and istration and Finance, there is one TchHeanEnsdSulesecswrieettlahercdytiiorofencsSttaabntedeart(ihwnehgiscothnate abLbapeytpitaonthioena,tSrmbeeceulrntaettttsihavere(syl4ey.o2aflppoSpetwroactileene'nvtstem)loe.fnafsLtiascrteeiscwneoeoerrsmdeetdo LSaMeaanrtsdvisinaDcacoehrwuCchsoaoemtGmstioesrsmvsCeeioszomanmissic(schFhsaraiiaironrcnoeoffAtLgthoahepieenCzsi)vtil Latino concerns about redistrict- made up only 7 (2.3 percent) out of 307 Committee; and the Commission sentation of Latinos in the criminal onJudicial Conduct. justice system, it is of great concern, About the author We found that only three of in particular, that Latinos have been so Carol Hardy-Fanta, is director ofthe these boards, commissions, or severely underrepresented in both the Center for Women in Politics and Public authorities, had any Latinos: Office of the Attorney General and Policy ofUMass Boston's McCormack MASSJOBS Council, three out among the justices of the trial courts. Institute and a research associate ofthe of thirty-nine members; one The current picture is equally a Latino on the Minority Business cause for alarm. There are no Latinos Gaston Institute. Development Commission; and holdingtop-level appointments at the one out of four on the Civil level ofcommissioner, executive director, Service Commission. The rest director, secretary, etc., within the —^ of these currently have no executive-level branch ofgovernment. Latinos appointed. Furthermore, The most important executive offices the percentageofLatinos hold- have no Latinos holding top-level Discrimination. In the Department of ing current appointments on these positionsthroughgubernatorial appoint- Economic Development, there is one boards (2.3 percent) shows no gains ments or as hired staff. Latina, Brunilda Perez, who is listed compared to the cumulative record on the staffas executive assistant and (2.2 percent). Also, withinthe judicial support systems unit manager. branch, less than 2 percent ofguberna- Wealsogathered data fromcurrent torial appointments to the position official lists on selected boards and of justice are Latino. commissions that we either considered to be of particular interest to Latino Conclusion communities or were able to access Latinos are severely underrepre- either from the internet or by calling sented in policymaking positions in the respective executive office. These Massachusetts. The cumulative pattern included the MASSJOBS Council (which shows that gubernatorial appointments is now the State Workforce Investment to regulatory and advisory boards, Board); the State Ethics Commission; commissions, and authorities within the the Minority Business Development executive branch have been less than 2 Commission; the Executive Committee percent Latino (even ifwe include all of the Judicial Nominating Council; Latino appointments as a percentage of the Seaport Advisory Council; the Civil appointments made only since 1990). Service Commission; the Massachusetts The number of Latino appointments Convention CenterAuthority; the Pension made to less powerful boards, commit- Reserve InvestmentManagement Board tees, and commissions outside of the (PRIM); the Public Employee Retirement executive branch has been somewhat Administration Commission; the better but still well below what would MassachusettsPortAuthority;the Board be expected given the size ofthe Latino of Education; the Council on the Arts population in the Commonwealth. and Humanities; the New England Board Almost 90 percent of boards, commis- ofHigher Education; the Board ofHigher sions, and authorities, have had no Education; theJuvenile Justice Advisory Latinos appointed. Given the overrepre- Notes: 'For a complete discussion ofthegrowth in Latino political representation in Massachusetts, see Latino Politics in Massachusetts: Struggles, Strategies and Prospects,edited by Carol Hardy-Fanta andJeffrey Gerson (NewYork: Routledge, 2001). •^Center forWomen in Government, "Appointed PolicyMakers in State Government: The Regional Perspective," (Summer 1997), p. 2. ^Ibid. This study indicated thatno Latinos had been appointed at this level. This suggests thatthere has been no improvement in Latino appointments atthis level in the past five years. ''Massachusetts Political Almanac, 2001 edition, edited by Kenneth G. Morton and Papalinka Paradise. (Centerville, MA: Center forLeadership Studies, 2001). ^We would like to acknowledge again thatdeterminingwho is Latino/a by name as listed is nota perfectsystem- it specifically misses Latinos who do nothave Latino names and thuscould underestimate ormisstate the actual count. Thereareoccasions,ofcourse,where thismethod counts asLatino someonewith a Latino name. Forexample,there isone individual listed atMassportwith a namethatcould indicatethathe is Latino. We are in the processofverifyingthese particularcases.Withoutdoinga complete review in person ofeach individual (a task beyond thescope ofthis study),a full picture is not possible at this time. Copyright 2002, Mauricio Gaston Institute, University ofMassachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA02125. 617 287 5790 I