HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022.11.21 Council Meeting Public Comment Submission from Gabrial Portugal 1`���(� �O�wl4��t�
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City of Pasco, Council Chambers
Nov. 21, 2022
804 RD 52
Honorable Council members,there are times I have expressed disagreement with you, and
there are times I stood with you wholeheartedly supporting your decisions. Tonight, I want to
express my disagreement with Mr. Cortinas' statements and my support for Councilmember,
Mr. Irving Brown. .
I met Mr. Cortinas more than 20 years ago. I was the Chair of the Cinco de Mayo committee. At
one of our meetings, Mr. Cortinas stated he was the best person to be our Entertainment
Coordinator. Our Executive Director, Gloria Garcia, informed Mr. Cortinas, the committee
would soon be voting for a coordinator. At another meeting, the committee voted for someone
else to be the Entertainment Coordinator. Mr. Cortinas appeared upset letting us know we
made a big mistake. After this, he wrote negative articles and opinions about the Cinco de
Mayo Committee on his newspaper. Mr. Cortinas threatened to file a lawsuit against Cinco de
Mayo based on false accusations. He never filed the lawsuit.
A few months later,the Cinco de Mayo committee was contacted by Frank Herrera, who
oversaw the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce based in Walla Walla. Mr. Herrera thought the
Cinco de Mayo committee would be an organization that could continue with the Hispanic
Chamber in its quest to help Latino businesses. We organized a board and registered the
Hispanic Chamber to focus its work in the Tri-Cities.
Approximately, a year later at one of our meetings, Mr. Cortinas showed up with Mr. Conrado
Cavazos, and told us we had no rights to hold meeting on Hispanic Chamber business. Mr.
Cortinas and Mr. Cavazos had registered the Hispanic Chamber license. Unbeknownst to our
Executive Director, and our board, the license had expired. Although we could have taken this
to the Secretary of State and argue our position, we opted not to fight the issue and believed
the business community needed help and maybe Mr. Cavazos would make a positive
difference. Mr. Cortinas later became the Hispanic Chamber President and after some time, the
board ousted him for improprieties.
In the past, Mr. Cortinas used his newspaper to write personal attacks against me, my family,
my church, and my job as an elementary school principal. On three editions of his newspaper
the attacks continued. Parents of school students asked if I was going to do anything. I decided
not to engage in negative writing with Mr. Cortinas. According to one famous writer; Mark
Twain. "You cannot win a fight writing against someone that buys the ink by the barrel".
A few years later, I was informed, Mr. Cortinas left the Tri-Cities because someone was highly
upset with him and could do some physical damage to him. Mr. Cortinas had to leave our area,
and after three years, he came back. He invited me to a meeting. Mr. Felix Vargas, retired
colonel and I met at a local restaurant. Mr. Cortinas apologized for the false accusations he
wrote on his paper. He started crying and i felt sorry for him. We shook hands, and I said to Mr.
Cortinas that,we should move on and continue working for the betterment of our community.
Later Mr. Cortinas invited me to help in the formation of a Latino Coalition group. I attended a
meeting and when I heard Mr. Cortinas attacking the Hispanic Chamber, I said to him that it
was inappropriate to use the meeting for these attacks. I began asking myself if his early
apology was intended to get me to be an ally and part of these attacks.
My experience has been that one cannot believe or trust the words that come out of Mr.
Cortinas, or any apologies. For when he apologizes, he already has a plan to use the apology for
his agenda.
Mr. Cortinas does not represent the Latino community! Our community is not a monolith, we
are democrats, republicans, independent, and many in our community do not identify with any
political ideology. The Latino Community does not have a representative,this is practically
impossible.
Honorable Councilman Mr. Brown, We have great respect for the African American experience,
and we share many areas in common, and we welcome prospects to collaborate and improve
our community. We are not going to let anyone deny the African Americans and the Hispanic
Americans the opportunity of collaboration. We stand in solidarity with you, Councilman Mr.
Brown, and the rest of our Honorable Pasco Washington City Council.
Respectfully,
Gabriel Portugal, Community Volunteer