Camarillo to become first Latina CEO of Convention

By Benjamin Parke

Daily Bruin Contributor

Lydia Camarillo was never someone to accept things as they
were.

“From my mother I learned that, if you really wanted to
have a better place for your family, you had to speak out,”
said Camarillo who, as chief executive officer of the 2000
Democratic National Convention ““ to be held in Los Angeles in
August ““ will be the first Latina to hold such a
position.

The first of eight children of Mexican immigrant parents,
Camarillo grew up in the housing projects of El Paso, Texas, before
moving with her family to Whittier when she was 17.

“I come from a working family that is very humble, but I
never realized how poor we were, because I had a lot of
love,” Camarillo said.

It was poorly functioning plumbing and leaking gas in those El
Paso projects that played a part in propelling Camarillo into an
activist career. Her mother would complain to the management office
about the problems, but they wouldn’t listen, she said.

“Then it suddenly occurred to me that she was one person,
so I said “˜They’re not listening to you, mom, because
it’s only you. What about if you talk to the
neighbors?'” Camarillo recalled. “And so before I
know it, my mom is organizing a neighborhood block
discussion.”

Although they eventually had to picket city hall, the residents
got what they wanted. And Camarillo learned a lesson in organizing
from her mother.

“What I learned from her was that, first, we needed
perseverance ““ and persistence and understanding of what the
issues were. And second, we needed to take action,” said
Camarillo. “And that’s where I think that I learned
organizing and coalition-building. I saw that from her.”

Camarillo was picked last fall as CEO of the Democratic
convention after Vice President Al Gore and his staff expressed the
desire for a Latina to fill the office. She worked for the Mexican
American Legal Defense and Education Fund in Los Angeles before
joining a project that worked out of her home state of Texas
““ to register Latinas/os to vote.

“We put together the largest voter registration and
get-out-the-vote drive in American history,” Camarillo said
of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, of which she
was executive director. The non-profit and non-partisan project
increased voter registration in Texas by 1.4 million people from
1992 to 1996.

“We knocked in neighborhoods that were traditionally not
the kinds of neighborhoods that participate in the American
democratic process,”she added. “So the challenge for us
was to see how we could engage these potential voters to be excited
by not only registering, but most important, by coming out to
vote.”

Camarillo said she wants to make sure that the communities that
make up Los Angeles are represented. The convention committee plans
on recruiting 10,000 volunteers, and a member of the committee
staff has visited all 80 assembly districts in the state of
California ““ meeting elected officials, as well as activists
and labor representatives.

In addition to volunteering in community garden projects,
Camarillo and others on her staff have gone into city schools to
read stories and talk to kids about the convention.

“Los Angeles is today the face of what America will be
tomorrow. Los Angeles is an example of how diverse America is truly
going to be,” Camarillo said.

Adrian Gonzalez is one young person from the area who plans to
be active when the convention starts ““ on the side of the
expected protests. Gonzalez, who lives in San Pedro and attends Los
Angeles Community College, is a part of Youth Organizing
Communities, a coalition of students ““ many at the high
school level ““ from across Los Angeles and elsewhere in
California.

“We want to go to the demonstrations so we can get heard
““ so it’s not just the concerns of those who get
in,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t know that Al Gore
even means what he’s saying, but that’s just the
reputation that every other politician has had.”

According to Camarillo, the convention committee has been
working with local police, as well as federal entities such as the
Secret Service, to address security concerns ““ heightened
somewhat by the demonstrations planned by groups such as Direct
Action Network, Global Exchange, and possibly labor unions.

“We are the party that believes in free speech. So if they
want to come to the convention, and they want to participate
““ and talk about and advocate their issues ““ then they
should,” said Camarillo. “What I ask them, though, is
that they allow us to have our convention.”

One point of contention has been what critics call a
“protest pit” ““ a specific site reserved for the
demonstrators in the vicinity of the Staples Center.

“It is essentially out of view of the Staples Center
““ all the way across the parking lot. Many of the
demonstrators are not going to want to use that system,” said
Carol Sobel, formerly an attorney for the American Civil Liberties
Union, who now does pro bono work for the organization.

Camarillo describes herself as an advocate and says she’s
been in these situations before.

“I think that for us, we know that people need to have a
voice,” Camarillo said. “We’ve always been a part
of that process. And so that’s why, for us, we’re
putting up a demonstration area so they can have a voice ““ so
that they can say what they need to say.”

On top of organizing security arrangements, housing in 84
hotels, and transportation on 250 buses for a convention with
50,000 guests ““ expected to pump $132 million into the local
economy ““ Camarillo gave birth in January to a son, whom she
refers to as “my little guy.”

“I have one responsibility right now ““ to make sure
that this convention goes off without a hitch, that Democrats are
proud, that Los Angeles is proud, and frankly that my mom and dad
are proud,” Camarillo said.