Left: Rev. Warren Stewart — Right: Kate Widland Gallego

 

One thing I hate is when an official politician tries to exert his political influence over fellow Mexican-American / Latino peers.

Whatever happened to the politician who remembers he is a humble public servant working for the American tax paying people?

Do Arizona legislators really believe they are the “almighty and powerful” that negates grassroots efforts lending freedom to support who we want to support?  Perhaps that is what Harvard is teaching these days when Rep. Ruben Gallego appears to threaten the ‘old guard’ within our community in an email blast he sent out while soliciting for his wife’s campaign.

Sorry Gallego, but just because your wife is your wife – this does not mean we all have to accept her as our new leader at your insistence. And your letter below threatening the “old guard” is inappropriate with regard to your capacity as an Arizona legislator.

Here are some reasons why some in the Mexican American community will not give your wife the nod:

Your wife, Kate Widland is an SRP lobbyist.   Reverend Warren Stewart sits on the board of the National Immigration Forum – a group formed by Al Gore that is helping immigrants and the Mexican American community.

Rev. Stewart protested football during a tough time for minorities when Arizona would not support the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to honor our Civil Rights. On the hand, minorities continue to go through tough times in your wife’s district with having to pay for high utilities and deposits despite the corporation she works for.  As you may already know, SRP donated $1 million dollars for Super Bowl football, while charging higher rates to low-income customers in District 8.

Your wife, Kate Widland is a carpetbagger and new to an area [as of January] that has a high brown and black population.   Rev. Stewart has lived in south Phoenix for a significant time with strong roots and knows the area better than your wife does.  He was one of the chief organizers during the 2005 and 2006 immigration marches when lawmakers were on the verge of passing the Sensenbrenner Bill during a crucial time.

Rev. Stewart displayed leadership and helped form the Black and Brown Coalition and has served on numerous boards and commissions.  In fact, he has played in an advisory capacity role for every Phoenix Mayor since 1977 in light of his considerable Civil Rights experience. It is disingenuous for Kate to say she is the only candidate with leadership experience.  Working at a utilities corporation that screws over low income people is not the leadership we are looking for.

Rather than showing leadership skills at her own corporation, your wife Kate Widland is complicit in funneling rate payer money to lure the Super Bowl to Arizona instead of fixing decrepit and hazardous transformers, power lines and canals that could make south Phoenix look better.  Meanwhile, Rev. Stewart rolled up his sleeves, took leadership and began a non-profit organization that feeds thousands of poor people for free every Wednesday.  He helped build hundreds of units and affordable housing in District 8 and throughout other parts of Phoenix.

In other words, Ruben, why would you insist and impose this sub-par candidate to confront the issues that Reverend Stewart has spent a lifetime preparing himself for?  By comparison the answer is clear: your wife is a carpetbagger outsider and what district 8 needs is one of their own to fix their own problems.
Indeed a pothole is just a pothole and it will continue to be empty until a man like Stewart fills it just as he has helped fill thousands of empty stomachs in poor communities.

That said, we encourage your wife, Kate Widland, to demonstrate real leadership by fixing the “potholes” of SRP policies with their hazardous lines and decrepit transformers and canals instead of using rate payer funds for Super Bowl programs.  We hope to see her garner a little more experience under her belt besides working for a greedy corporation.