Anger over Puerto Rican Day parade changes

Conjuring up a history of feeling marginalized in Chicago, Puerto Rican community leaders and veteran activists Thursday voiced their anger over a decision not to hold the Puerto Rican Day parade in Grant Park this year.

Since the 1960s, the parade has served as a cultural touchstone for the region's roughly 1.4 million Puerto Ricans, a community that through the years has been displaced from several neighborhoods and is now trying to remain a vital part of the rapidly changing Humboldt Park and West Town neighborhoods.

Faced with financial problems, the Puerto Rican Parade Committee of Chicago announced this week that the downtown parade would be too expensive. The announcement kicked off debate over the merits of a downtown parade versus less-costly local celebrations, a discussion that special events organizers said other ethnic groups also face.

The parade committee said joining with organizers of a Puerto Rican Day parade that has been held on Division Street since 1966 will lead to a better turnout and help local businesses. This year's event is scheduled for June 15.

At a news conference Thursday that turned into a small rally, former parade committee leaders contended that the move undercuts the broader triumphs of Puerto Ricans in Chicago, which include a notable political presence in City Hall, Springfield and in Congress.

"Just like the Irish have their parades and the Italians have their parades downtown, and other ethnic groups have their parades downtown, we want our parade downtown, don't we?" Efrain Malave, who served as parade committee president about 10 years ago, asked a cheering crowd.

Malave and other former committee leaders have been at odds with the current leadership. They have filed a lawsuit against the parade committee in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging that the committee's current president, Angel Medina, mismanaged funds and circumvented a bylaw-mandated election last September, a move that has kept him in control.

The lawsuit seeks to oust Medina and force an accounting of roughly $600,000 spent by the parade committee.

Medina did not respond to requests for comment. Jackie Baez, administrative director for the parade committee, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

However, she argued that the decision to move the parade back to Humboldt Park makes the most sense.

"We moved the parade to Division Street because it's too costly to hold it downtown, and it doesn't really profit our community," said Baez, estimating that last year's parade cost roughly $40,000. "Moving the parade here to Division Street will benefit our local business owners."

Because of high parking fees and other inconveniences, the downtown parade's attendance has dwindled over the years, she added.

"We used to get close to (250,000) or 300,000 people," she said. "We didn't get that; not even half last year."

The debate mirrors those in other ethnic groups that want to celebrate their heritage in a downtown parade but, with the sluggish economy, are wracked by financial problems, said Hank Zemola, CEO of Chicago Special Events Management, which is coordinating this year's Division Street parade and has helped stage the Mexican Independence Day parade and other events.

"For so many years, these (community organization) budgets ran with such freedom, and the oversight wasn't good and the city underwrote a lot of the expenses," Zemola said. "There's now no state, federal or city grants to help underwrite this stuff."

Medina's wife, Carmen Martinez, said she tried to help. The owner of a popular records store on Division Street, she lent her husband's organization close to $200,000, Martinez said.

"I'm not putting in any more of my money," she said. "If there's someone else who wants to give $46,000, we'll put the parade downtown again. But I don't think anyone will do that."

aolivo@tribune.com

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-puerto-rican-parade-20130405,0,6130540.story?track=rss

duggar miscarriage roman holiday belize adele lyrics best new artist 2012 grammys foo fighters