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Show Mucho* Culture* i ^ d l p A ParkRecondo&&m\e& Ulises Laguna'sfindsfocus " nft ? munldad the latino community. \ on the field Page B-l One LiOtnmunity Education Business Scene Sports f | _ 5 _ _ -JUS - M MioyCultures 111 W l S 60111011... Latino photos paint historical Bilingual service is bank for Latino students change Page B-9 faceofPCSD. picture. p a g e C-1 businesses. £ j': *-< -* | ^^T^^^ PARK CITY, UTAH www.parkrecord.com Local agencies attract few Latino officers V ^ B ^ ^ ^ Serving Summit County since 1880 H Park Kec»ixl Pauseforreflection VOL. 125 • NO. 19 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues,April 9-12,2005 Republican chosen as new attorney Brick^ beats out more experienced litigator to lead legal department By PATRICK PARKINSON SCOTT SINE/'PARK RECORD Deputy Salvador Segura is the lone Latino member of the Summit County Sheriff's Office. There is a paucity of local Latino lawmen even though the number of Latinos living in Park City and Summit County has grown substantially. Percentage of lawmen doesn't reflect community's makeup By JAY HAMBURGER Of the Record staff Deputy Salvador Segura was on duty on a recent night for the Summit County Sheriffs Office, patrolling his normal beat, an expansive swath of the Snyderville Basin, from Silver Creek to Jeremy Ranch. Dispatchers sent him to the Elk Meadows apartments on West Kilby Road in the Basin, where a drunken Latino man reportedly had been violent for a few weeks, kicking in a stereo and, on that day, yelling at a woman. When Segura arrived, he found the man and his mother, who told Segura she wanted her son taken away, but just for a few days. He explained to her, though, that the Sheriff's Office must conduct an investigation regardless. "He puffed his chest out and we said relax," Segura recalled, saying that the man was arrested for criminal mischief and intoxication. It was by happenstance that Segura responded to the call, but he acknowledges that his ethnic background and his Latino-sounding nametag sometimes give him more credence with the largest minority group in Summit County and Park City. "Some Hispanic people want to only deal with Hispanic people. Some don't care who comes. They want the police there. They just want help," Segura said. But Segura stands as the only Latino member of the 104-person Sheriff's Office, a law-enforcement agency that is almost exclusively white but serves a county with a fast-growing Latino population, made of both those who entered the U.S. with the proper papers and others who immigrated illegally. In Park City, where most of the county's Latinos are believed to live, the Police Department's force is more diverse than that of the Sheriff's Office but the number of Latinos in the department, a lieutenant and two officers, is only slightly higher. Some in law enforcement see advantages in having a force that reflects the makeup of the community, claiming that employing a diverse department enhances the ability to serve the different ethnic groups. Even with the paucity of Latino lawmen, the Police Department and the Sheriffs Office have not been pubficly criticized for not reflecting the racial makeup of the community nor have there been high-profile, racially influenced tensions between the agencies and the area's Latinos. There are contrasting ideas between the Sheriffs Office and the Police Department about the subject, with the Sheriffs Office largely debunking the diversity theory and the police saying that, in the past SCOTT SINE'PARK RECORD Zitaly Tenorio rests for a moment between activities Friday at the Park City Boys and Girls Club. The club was created to give kids an after-school environment to safely participate in activities, games sports, and even getting help with homework. Of the Record staff In a split vote Wednesday, the Summit County Commission appointed their chief prosecutor. Republican David Brickey, to replace former Democratic Summit County Attorney Robert Adkins. Adkins was confirmed recently as a Third District Court judge, and many people expected the county's three Democratic commissioners to replace him with a Democrat. Commissioner Sally Elliott was against hiring Brickey. The decision was made during a private meeting Wednesday, after Brickey, Park City Democrat Joe Tesch and Anne Cameron, a Pinebrook resident not affiliated with a political party, were interviewed by commissioners last week. Brickey was sworn in Wednesday. "Joe Tesch is afinelawyer. He would have been a fine county attorney," Brickey said. "He posed some challenges to them ... when he said he was going to continue representing those private clients and the county." Tesch, who is currently involved in legal wrangling against the county for two clients, was lukewarm about giving up his lucrative private practice to serve for 18 months as county attorney. Adkins* term ends Dec. 31, 2006. and Brickey has not decided whether he would Please see Brickey, A-2 New Park City nonprofit assists new immigrants mission was," Loomis said. "We decided that we would go different directions." The Park City Community Outreach Center is locii'fd :u Aspen Villas Apartments where Weiss says illegal immigrants approach her daily about By PATRICK PARKINSON mistakes on their paychecks. Of the Record staff "Usually, I just call the contractor," she said. "It One of Park City's newest nonprofits is spending is far faster for me to work directly with the victim most of its time helping Mexican workers resolve who hasn't been paid, and the person who hasn't paid them." disputes with their employers. The vast majority of wage-related complaints are "We'll help anybody who walks through the door, but our real passion is assisting people who resolved before the Utah Anti-discrimination and are low income, or at or below the poverty level," Labor Division is contacted, she adds. said Oakley resident Shelley Weiss, executive direc"I think that [contractors] think that [undocutor of the Park City Community Outreach Center. mented workers] have no recourse, and they're not The center officially opened last week, but Weiss going to do anything," Weiss said. "The labor diviis continuing to serve Latinos and illegal immi- sion has no interest in someone's legal status. The grants in Summit County much the same way she minute you allow somebody to do work for you, has throughout the past decade. The center, though, you're responsible for paying them." is no longer associated with Mounlainlands Also, undocumented workers are somelimes Community Housing Trust. denied Workers Compensation benefits after they "1 decided that the program needed to be a arc injured on the job. "Through the office we can go ahead and make stand-alone program. We needed to follow our own agenda," said Weiss, who left Mountainlands in referrals to attorneys," Weiss said, adding (hat the February. "The vast majority of the Hispanic com- center currently serves about 12 people per day. "The idea is really to help folks maintain their indemunity doesn't know it happened." pendence in the community and their ability to conWeiss* mission had veered away from Mountainlands1 priority of providing affordable tribute by offering them help with problems." housing, said Scott Loomis, executive director of Officials at the center are eager to partner with Mountainlands Community Housing. other local non-profit organizations to provide serv"[Weiss] was getting involved in a lot of the law ices and apply for grants. "We're not trying to be a calchall, or lake away enforcement things and just expanding to other areas that were not really consistent with what our from what other organizations are doing." said Midway resident Riley Risto. a member of the cen- Outreach Center: helps in wage disputes; police interactions ter's board of trustees. "We're just trying to be a resource for everybody." The center intends to hire two office assistants and Weiss expects it to operate with an $80,000 annual budget. "We don't charge anybody for services ... and we do it in English and Spanish," Weiss said. The center provides job referrals, court assistance, financial education and acts as a law-enforcement liaison for Spanish speakers, she said, adding that she most often partners with the Park City Police Department. "Because so many people come to me with police stuff," Weiss said. She developed a database for the center, which tracks officers who issue tickets to her clients, to help determine whether local cops are profiling Latinos. "If there is some cowboy out there doing some stuff, it gives me a chance to go back and run the Excel program," Weiss said. The outreach center also assists people who are trying to collect child support, and often contacts car dealers in Salt Lake City who allegedly rip off Latinos, she adds. "If this office isn't open, where arc these guys going to go?" Weiss said. The group is currently pushing for more recycling bins at apartment complexes in Park City. "One of our real interests is getting immigrant communities cognizant of environmental issues," Weiss said. For more information, contact the Park City Community Outreach Center at 901-3594. Field House fills niche in Latino community Indoor soccer facility becoming hub for Spanish-speaking families By ADIA WALDBURGER Of the Record staff Each Wednesday, facility director Matt Strader welcomes in an almost exclusively Latino crowd to the at Basin Recreation Field House's drop-in soccer program/ Similarly, when fall adult soccer league play 3 SECTIONS * 54 PAGES begins, three out of the eight teams entered are comAgendas A-8 prised of Latino players. According to Strader, since the Field House was Automotive C-15 built, there has been a steady crowd of Latino chilBusiness B-9 dren, adults and families. Classifieds C-10 "It's been great and the Field House has opened up Columns A-14 a lot of opportunities for the Latino community to in," said Strader. "The fees are right and having Crossword C-4 come an indoor soccer field available to use has been good Editorial A-15 for them." The attraction is generally soccer, a sport that is Education , A-9 very popular in the Latino culture. The Field House Events Calendar , C-2 also offers youth programs that may be off interest to Letters to the Editor A-15 Latino youth. Strader feels the Latino presence also adds diversiLegals C-19 Movies C-4 ty to the soccer programs. "It's good for everybody to interact going both Professional Services B-12 ways," said Strader. Restaurant Guide C-7 Currently, the Field House is offering youth baseball Sports B-1 and softball program, as well as an instructional soccer program. Strader hopes that many of the Latino TV Listings C-8 youth and adults who participate in soccer programs Weather B-2 will come out for baseball and softball as well. The recreational baseball program, which includes teeball and professional baseball, is designed for preschool-aged children up to ninth graders. The program runs Monday through Thursday, May 9 -June GRAYSON WEST/PARK RECORD Serving Summit County since 1880 27. The cost is $65 per person and the registration Freddy Paspuel handles the ball at the Basin Recreation Field House's drop-in soccer program deadline is April 16. The baseball programs are co-ed, but there is also held on Wednesday nights. According to Recreation Coordinator Matt Strader, the Field House's Please see Latinos, A-2 soccer programs have been very popular within the Latino community. 8 %4937 00001 Please see Agencies, A-2 ^ParkRecowL |