By Melanie Slone
A rooster first brought San Marcos District 1 Representative María Núñez into contact with local government in 2010, she told North County Informador.
“We were issued a citation by animal control for having a rooster in our backyard.” As a lawyer, she knew the zoning rules and appealed it, winning the case and being allowed to keep her animal.
But she says many people do not get involved with their local government, which means their interests are not represented.
“I think a lot of us go, somebody else is going to do it. Somebody else is going to be there,” she said.
Gaps in Civic Engagement
Rep. Núñez said there is a lot of need among the communities. “What I see is that so many people are focused on, are they going to be able to pay their rent? It really prevents them from being able to say, I’m going to take the time to be civically engaged.”
She told us the voting rates in Latino districts along Highway 78 are lower than among other groups. “When we’re active, when we’re trying to engage, we’re going to see that increase in participation. …But it’s a lot of work…We have to dedicate the resources. But we don’t have the resources,” she explained.
María hopes people will become more involved with the political process around them. “A lot of our community doesn’t know that governance should be public,” she told us.
She is looking for ways to make it easier for people. “I feel like we assume that people should know what they should be asking for. And how they should be asking for it.”
The City of San Marcos is offering a workshop called Citizen’s Academy. María says she hopes to offer a Spanish-language Citizen’s Academy in the near future.
Women in Leadership
María says she began seeing women taking over boards in all areas and rising to leadership positions when she started at Cal Western Law School in 2001. “I remember the school telling us that for the first time, our class was the first where we were majority women.”
The women in politics trend emerged in North County in the 2018 elections, with a shift at the City Council levels, she said. “It was the women…that were sort of in the frontlines. And I think we continue to see that,” she told us.
Although unsure about what it means for Latino men, María believes we will continue to see Latina women stepping into these positions. “…even in the younger individuals, in our students, locally here, I definitely see more interest in the females. And I don’t know where that comes from, but it’s the females the ones that are taking the initiative,” she said.
Her sister, Arcela Núñez, agrees. In the Latino community, “women play such an important role not just socially, but also in the way that decisions are made in the community,” she said.
“Women are volunteering a lot of their time in civic activities at church, at schools, in many venues…women coming out and dedicating their resources to support political campaigns, doing a lot of the canvassing, neighborhood education, organizing their neighbors to be involved,” said Arcela.
How to get involved
Representative Núñez offered some advice on how to take part in your government and represent your interests. “My advice is start with what you know.” It may be volunteering at their school or with their local community, she said.
Next, she hopes people will go to City Hall to give public comment, and later, join boards and commissions, “and eventually think about running for office themselves,” she said.
“People are going to come into a space if they know somebody, if they’re comfortable…I don’t care if you’re an attorney, I don’t care if you’re a mom at home, you’re going to go to a space where you feel welcome,” said María.
Universidad Popular
María and Arcela run the nonprofit organization Universidad Popular.
“For us at Universidad Popular, …civic engagement is one of our priority areas. We see it as a way of increasing and building people power to get the representation that our community needs to have to have people in key positions who are making decisions that will really benefit our community,” Arcela explained.
Universidad Popular focuses on civic engagement
- Citizenship classes
- US History
- How government works
- How to pass citizenship interviews
- The role individuals play in democracy
- Workshops
- Activities and events around elections
- Meeting the candidates
- How to make informed decisions when voting
Since 2016, it has helped over 2,000 individuals go through their naturalization and through classes.
“It’s really about building that sense of empowerment for our community, not just for an individual,” said Arcela.
