Advocacy
About Our Work
SDLRLA is a non-partisan organization which takes great pride in its political activity. This organization was founded so that it could advance the Latino community through political activity and advocacy. As we well realize, the only way to effect change is to demand change by engaging the political system. Today, SDLRLA does this through two vehicles; it’s Political Affairs Committee and it’s Political Action Committee.
The Political Affairs Committee is tasked by the Board of Directors to oversee all aspects of the Association’s political efforts. The Political Affairs Committee has led the Association’s efforts to push the state legislature for a reinvestment in our judicial system, has organized two major San Diego mayoral candidate forums, and is acting as the liaison to support the National Association of Latino Elected Official’s 2014 convention in San Diego, June 26-28.
The Political Action Committee (PAC) is a separate entity comprised of community leaders and board members that oversee all aspects of the Association’s lobbying efforts. The PAC makes decisions on how to contribute the PAC’s money to support candidates and causes that are aligned with the Association’s mission and values.
Endorsements
SDLRLA has an endorsement committee whose purpose is to ensure that the Latino community is appropriately represented throughout San Diego at varying levels of political positions. The Committee will consider requests for endorsements for those running for judicial office, requests for letters of support and/or endorsements for non-partisan, local and county elected positions, such as district attorney and city attorney, as well as candidates for directors of the San Diego County Bar Board.
Click on any of our endorsed candidates’ campaign website links below to learn more about them.
Mayoral Forums
After the untimely resignation of Mayor Filner, SDLRLA held its second Mayoral Forum on November 6, 2013 to educate the community for the Special Election. This election featured David Alvarez, Mike Aguirre, Kevin Faulconer and Nathan Fletcher, the top four polling candidates running to fill Filner’s vacancy. About 400-500 members of the community attended. This 3 minute video shows the highlights of the Forum, as well as the impact made by the Latino voters in San Diego. SDLRLA endorsed candidate David Alvarez before the special election, who recieved 25.59 percent of the vote and will advance to the run-off election against fellow city councilmember Kevin Faulconer in February 2014.
DA Forum
On June 5, 2018, San Diego County Voters would decide who would be the next District Attorney of San Diego County. While SDLRLA did not endorse either candidate, SDLRA knew there was a huge need to bring this information to the voters, so they could make an informed decision.
As such, Thursday, May 31, 2018, SDLRLA in partnership with the San Diego County Bar Association (SDCBA) held the 2018 District Attorney Forum at the Westin Hotel, Emerald Plaza. The free event was attended by over 500 lawyers, law students, elected officials, judges and other members of the public.
Moderated by NBC anchor, Catherine Garcia, each candidate was allotted two minutes to provide thoughtful responses to various questions concerning criminal justice policy including bail reform, the California gang datbase, and the public school to prison pipeline, and many other topics.
The candidates ‘bring different visions to the role of the District Attorney’s Office and the Forum gave voters a clear understanding of their vision’
~ SDLRLA Immediate Past President, Alara Chilton.
A very special thank you to Alara Chilton for co-chairing the event, Alvin M. Gomez of GOMEZ LAW GROUP for his generous sponsorship and to NBC Anchor, Catherine Garcia for moderating this event.