New LULAC leader sets sights on issues

Affirmative action, bilingual education on list

A Houston lawyer elected president of a large Hispanic civil rights organization said his grass-roots group will concentrate on saving affirmative action and bilingual education, but also will help migrants working in northern communities.

Enrique “Rick” Dovalina, a partner in the law firm Dovalina and Eureste located off Buffalo Speedway, won as national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens at its conference in Dallas last week.

Previously, Dovalina served as LULAC’s legal adviser under outgoing President Belen Robles and cleared up finances and lawsuits against LULAC left over from administrations as far back as seven years ago.

In doing so, he gained the trust of LULAC councils and officers across the country, according to supporters.

“We have been debt-free and lawsuit-free for the past two years, and we can concentrate on the issues at hand,” Dovalina said.

Although the affirmative action question remains up in the air in Houston with the latest court decision renouncing the wording of the referendum that upheld the city’s affirmative action program, Dovalina is looking at the national picture.

“The latest strategy of anti-affirmative action groups is to target the northern states like Washington, Wyoming and Utah that do not have large minority communities,” the 49-year-old said.

“But we have strong councils all over. Hispanics are not only in the Southwest. We have large chapters in Iowa and Wisconsin,” he said.

LULAC also will reach out to Republican and Democratic political leaders alike, Dovalina said.

This non-partisanship was shown in its convention speakers who ranged from Democratic leaders Jesse Jackson and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri as well as Texas Gov. George W. Bush and House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Dovalina was also part of a group of Hispanic leaders who met with President Clinton when he visited for a forum on race and sports in Houston earlier this spring.

A 1980 graduate of Bates College of Law at the University of Houston, Dovalina also worked for the City of Houston in the Civil Service Department and was a claims supervisor for the Texas Employers Insurance Association.

Another major issue that LULAC will be active in will be the U.S. Census in the year 2000 to assure Hispanics will be fairly counted, Dovalina said.

“We support using sampling to get the most accurate count. Some may say, ‘Who cares whether we’re counted.’ But it’s very important to realize all the federal funds depend on the census,” he said.

But at the moment, Dovalina is concerned with the logistics of setting up the national office in Houston and picking his staff. Although LULAC does keep a Washington, D.C., office for lobbying efforts, traditionally the national office is in the city where the president is located.

He has chosen as his chief of staff Frank Ortiz, an engineer for a NASA contractor who served as his campaign manager.

The two have worked together on LULAC issues for the past 10 years.

Ortiz said, “He is a very strong politician, but he also knows how to compromise and be diplomatic.”

Dovalina is the first Houston area national president since Judge Alfred Hernandez about two decades ago, Ortiz said.

Longtime LULAC spokesman Johnny Mata said Dovalina “has been through the trenches and has been involved.”

“As legal adviser, he traveled throughout the nation, built a base and interacted with LULAC leaders,” Mata said. “They have shown they respect him and are willing to support him.”



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