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[Press Conference: “Hispanic Heritage Month Kick-off”]
STARTED IF YOU WANT TO.THERE'S SOME SEATS HERE IN THE FRONT OR MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE.
I'M ROLAND GARCIA AND ALONG WITH LENORA SIROLA POLLMAN.
WE ARE CO-CHAIRS OF THE MAYOR'S HISPANIC ADVISORY BOARD, AND WE WELCOME YOU HERE TODAY AS WE KICK OFF HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH.
HOUSTON IS ONE OF THE MOST DIVERSE CITIES IN THE COUNTRY AND IN HOUSTON.
WE CELEBRATE AND VALUE THE DIVERSITY OF OUR COMMUNITY.
AND ONE OF THE WAYS WE DO THAT IS WE DO RECOGNIZE HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH EVERY YEAR.
IT'S FROM SEPTEMBER THE 15TH THROUGH OCTOBER THE 15TH, AND WITHIN THAT TIMEFRAME, WE ALSO HAVE OUR HISPANIC HERITAGE AWARDS CEREMONY.
AND YOU'RE GONNA BE HEARING ABOUT THAT IN A MOMENT.
THE PURPOSE OF THE MAYOR'S HISPANIC ADVISORY BOARD IS, OF COURSE, TO SERVE AS A LIAISON WITH MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER AND THE LATINO COMMUNITY.
WE PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS, ADVICE, COUNCIL IDEAS TO THE MAYOR ON A NUMBER OF AREAS AND TOPICS, INCLUDING SOCIAL ISSUES INCLUDING ECONOMIC, EDUCATIONAL, HEALTHCARE APPOINTMENTS, ADVANCEMENT IN THE COMMUNITY, AND MANY OTHERS.
WE DO SO THROUGH SEVERAL COMMITTEES, AND WE HAVE SEVERAL OF OUR BOARD MEMBERS HERE.
WE'RE GONNA RECOGNIZE THOSE BOARD MEMBERS WHO ARE HERE.
WE HAVE AN APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE, UH, EDUCATION COMMITTEE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, EVENTS COMMITTEE, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, AND THE ARTS COMMITTEE.
AND YES, THEY ARE ALL VERY BUSY AND WE HAVE A VERY ACTIVE BOARD.
MANY OF THEM ARE HERE AS I CALL YOUR NAMES.
PLEASE COME ON UP TO THE STAGE AND JOIN US.
WE HAVE, UH, SOPHIA AGUE IS HERE.
HOW ARE YOU? ROLAND? THE LENORA.
OH, UH, DR. KAYLA LOPEZ IS HERE.
ANY OTHER BOARD MEMBERS OF THE MAYOR'S HISPANIC ADVISORY BOARD THAT WE MISSED? WE ALSO HAVE SOME VERY SPECIAL GUESTS WITH US.
WE HAVE OUR BOARD LIAISON, WHO IS ALSO THE DIRECTOR OF BOARDS AND COMMISSION.
WE HAVE OUR DISTINGUISHED AGENDA.
MARTA, RIGHT THERE IS RIGHT THERE.
OUR DISTINGUISHED COUNCIL MEMBER, THE HONORABLE COUNCIL MEMBER.
DISTINGUISHED THE HONORABLE COUNCIL MEMBER SALLY ALCORN.
AND DISTINGUISHED COUNCIL MEMBER, THE HONORABLE ROBERT GALLEGOS IS HERE.
WE HAVE REPRESENTING COUNCIL MEMBER PLUMMER'S, OFFICE CC SCOTT AND CATHERINE WASHINGTON.
AND WE HAVE THE FORMER FIRST LADY AT LARGE, DEBBIE CASTILLO COSTELLO HERE.
DEBBIE, YOU THOUGHT WE FORGOT YOU.
DEBBIE CASTELLO NEVER CAN FORGET, UH, ANY OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS OR ELECTED.
TARSA JACKSON'S OFFICE IS REPRESENTED HERE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR COMING.
GIVE OUR BEST TO COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON.
COUNCIL MEMBER CARLOS CISNEROS OFFICE IS REPRESENTED HERE.
WANT TO GET EVERYBODY IN? IT'S BEING RECORDED.
ANY OTHER
THANK YOU ALL TO OUR DISTINGUISHED, UH, UH, ELECTED, ELECTED OFFICIALS, OUR GUESTS, OUR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS DIRECTOR, AND MANY OTHERS.
UM, WE ALSO WANT TO, UH, WELCOME A VERY GOOD FRIEND OF THE MAYOR'S HISPANIC ADVISORY BOARD, WHO'S BEEN WITH US FROM THE BEGINNING.
HE GOES TO OUR MEETINGS, HE HELPS US WITH IDEAS.
HE GOES TO THE MAYOR'S OFFICE TO HELP US IMPLEMENT SOME OF OUR PROJECTS, ROLLS UP HIS SLEEVES, GETS IT DONE.
NOT JUST FOR THE MAYOR'S HISPANIC ADVISORY BOARD, BUT FOR THE COMMUNITY.
AND THAT'S OUR FRIEND, COUNCIL MEMBER, ROBERT GALLEGOS.
ROBERT, DO YOU WANNA COME UP AND SAY A FEW WORDS, ROBERT, COUNCIL MEMBER, AND THEN AFTER THAT, WE'RE GOING TO INTRODUCE OUR HONOREES.
COUNCIL MEMBER, FIRST OF ALL, GOOD AFTERNOON.
THANK, THANK Y'ALL FOR BEING HERE.
AND AGAIN, UH, I WANT TO ALSO, UH, ONCE AGAIN, ACKNOWLEDGE COUNCIL MEMBER KNOX.
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MEMBER ALCORN, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE AND THE REPRESENTATIVES FROM COUNCIL MEMBER PLUMMER, COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON AND COUNCIL MEMBER CI NILES.UH, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE AND ACKNOWLEDGING HISPANIC HERITAGE, THE START OF HISPANIC HERITAGE, BUT, UH, HERE IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
UM, AND AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, UM, I'M THE ONLY HISPANIC ON CITY COUNCIL OUT OF 16 COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UH, SO WITH THAT SAID, UH, I ALWAYS HAVE OR TRY TO DO IN, IN REGARDS TO THE BEST JOB I CAN ON CITY COUNCIL, REPRESENTING NEARLY HALF THE POPULATION OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON, NEARLY HALF THE POPULATION OF HARRIS COUNTY.
AND WITH THE 2020 CENSUS, UM, WHICH IN MY OPINION IS AN UNDERCOUNT TO THE FACT THAT WE HAD THE PANDEMIC, UH, AND WE HAD THE THREAT FROM THE FORMER PRESIDENT IN REGARDS TO FILLING OUT CITIZENSHIP PAPERS OR, OR, OR, OR, UH, FEAR OF, OF, OF, OF LOOKING AT CITIZENSHIP PAPERS.
UH, IN THE CENSUS 2020, IT WAS 42.5% WHITE AND 39.7% HISPANIC IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
UH, SO WITH THAT SAID, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT, UH, THAT WE, UH, ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE MAYORS, UH, HISPANIC ADVISORY BOARD, UH, DO ALL THEY CAN, UH, TO REPRESENT HISPANICS IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON AND IN HARRIS COUNTY.
AND, AND FOR THAT, THE STATE OF TEXAS, UH, SINCE HARRIS COUNTY'S THE LARGEST COUNTY IN THE, UH, SO THAT'S WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT THAT WE ACKNOWLEDGE THESE RECIPIENTS FOR EVERYTHING THAT THEY DO OUT IN OUR COMMUNITY, UH, TO ACKNOWLEDGE OUR CULTURE, OUR HERITAGE, OUR PRIDE, UH, AND THAT'S WHY WE ARE HERE TO CELEBRATE THIS.
AND IT ALL STARTED BACK IN 1968 WITH PRESIDENT JOHNSON, UH, ACKNOWLEDGING HISPANIC HERITAGE WEEK BACK IN 1968.
AND I WANNA GIVE THANKS TO FORMER PRESIDENT, UH, GEORGE HW BUSH BACK IN 1988, UH, FOR ACKNOWLEDGING HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH.
AND HERE WE ARE IN 2022, NEARLY HALF THE POPULATION OF THE STATE OF COUNTY, AND OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
SO THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE, UH, THAT, UH, WHAT YOU DO OUT IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND AGAIN, CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE RECIPIENTS THAT ARE BEING ACKNOWLEDGED AND GIVEN AN AWARD, UH, THE MAYOR'S HISPANIC ADVISORY AWARD WELL DESERVED.
AND THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING THAT Y'ALL DO.
NOW WE HAVE SOME EXCITING NEWS.
AS YOU KNOW, THE, UH, MAYOR'S HISPANIC ADVISORY BOARD WORKS VERY HARD YEAR ROUND ON MULTIPLE INITIATIVES.
ONE OF OUR CROWN JEWELS IS OUR HISPANIC HERITAGE AWARDS PROGRAM.
WE GET NOMINEES FROM ACROSS THE CITY FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES.
A COMMITTEE WORKS VERY HARD IN MAKING THESE SELECTIONS.
AND WE HAVE SOME ANNOUNCEMENTS TODAY ON THE WINNERS.
UH, SO THE, UM, FIRST CATEGORY IS EDUCATION IN THE COMMUNITY, AND WE ARE HONORED TO THAT, UH, TO ANNOUNCE THAT DR.
ADRIANA TAMM WILL BE THE, UH, AWARD RECIPIENT NOMINATED BY STATE REPRESENTATIVE CHRISTINA MORALES.
ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR SEVERAL OF THE HONOREES.
THOSE THAT ARE HERE, IF YOU WOULD COME UP FRONT, STATE, SO WE CAN GET A PHOTO WITH YOU AS WELL, INCLUDING GROUP PHOTO.
UM, THE NEXT CATEGORY IS COMMUNITY ACTIVIST, AND WE'RE HONORED TO ANNOUNCE THAT SANDRA RODRIGUEZ WILL BE THE WINNER NOMINATED BY STATE REPRESENTATIVE JEAN WU.
UH, SANDRA IS HERE, REPRESENTED BY HER SON, ANGEL CASTILLO.
WHERE'S ANGEL FROM? MONICA SANDRA'S IN WASHINGTON, DC SO HER SON IS HERE, SO THANK YOU.
UH, THE NEXT CATEGORY IS ART IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND PLEASE TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE WINNER IS JOSE LONGORIA.
JOSE NOMINATED BY STATE REPRESENTATIVE CHRISTINA MORALES.
WE FEEL LIKE WE OUGHT TO GIVE HIM AN OSCAR, RIGHT.
UH, UH, THE NEXT HONOREE IS IN THE CATEGORY OF HEALTHCARE.
WE HAVE A DUAL WINNER, TWO OUTSTANDING, UH, HONOREES, AND IT'S OUR PLEASURE TO ANNOUNCE DR.
FLO MUNOZ AND MARIA BOI JOIN AWARD.
AND WE HAVE OUR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER.
IT'S OUR PLEASURE TO ANNOUNCE THIS YEAR'S LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT WINNER IS
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AVAN MEDRANO.ALSO, CHRISTIAN NOVATO, OUR DEAR BELOVED FRIEND WHO HAS, IS NO LONGER WITH US.
HE'S GETTING THE AWARD POSTHUMOUSLY ALONG WITH AVAN MEDRANO.
UM, CHRISTIAN'S FAMILY IS HERE TO REPRESENT, UH, OH, CHRISTIAN'S FAMILY.
WE WANT, WE WANT THE FAMILY IN THE PHOTO.
SO A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE TO OUR HONOREES.
WE HAVE SOME, UH, YOUTH ACTIVIST, AH, YOUTH ACTIVIST AWARD SITTING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, US, AND YES, IT WAS ON THE LIST.
UH, WE HAVE THE YOUTH ACTIVIST, UH, WINNER IS AILEEN RODRIGUEZ.
NOMINATED BY LENORA OLA PULLMAN AND ROSE SALAS.
SO THERE
UH, SO ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR ALL OF OUR HONOREES.
AND BEFORE I FORGET, I, UH, UH, IN TERMS OF RECOGNIZING, UH, SPECIAL GUESTS AND, UH, CITY DEPARTMENT HEADS, I, I SEE JACKIE KIMSEY BACK THERE WHO IS, UH, WORKS WITH THE MAYOR'S HISPANIC ADVISORY BOARD.
DOES A LOT OF GREAT SERVICE, UH, ALONG WITH SHANNON.
SO THANK YOU, UH, JACKIE, FOR BEING HERE TODAY.
UM, NOW WE HAVE OUR UPCOMING HISPANIC HERITAGE AWARDS PROGRAM.
AND TO TELL YOU A LITTLE ABOUT THAT, WE'LL BE OUR TWO CHAIRS OF THE EVENT, UM, UH, TO COME UP.
UH, TIM, TIM MARTINEZ AND LAUREN SOLIS.
UM, I AM PLEASED TO CO-CHAIR THE SUBCOMMITTEE WITH LAUREN.
UH, WE BOTH AGREED WE WOULDN'T DO IT WITHOUT EACH OTHER, SO
AND WE WOULDN'T DO IT WITHOUT ROLLING AND LENORA.
SO, UH, WE HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US ON OCTOBER 19TH AT 6:00 PM AT THE BALLROOM AT BAYOU PLACE, RIGHT DOWN THE STREET FOR THE HISPANIC HERITAGE AWARDS, WHERE WE WILL HONOR OUR, UH, HONOREES.
YOU'LL LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THEM THAT NIGHT.
UM, WE HAVEN'T DONE THIS EVENT IN TWO YEARS.
UM, SO IT'S GONNA BE GREAT TO HAVE EVERYBODY IN THE SAME ROOM.
UM, MANGO PUNCH WILL BE PERFORMING.
UM, WE'RE WORKING ON A FUN EVENING.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING ALL OF YOU CHECK OUR FACEBOOK PAGE, UH, AS WE START TO UPDATE, UM, THE PAGE WITH INFORMATION.
UM, WE WILL ALSO BE RECOGNIZING OUR SPONSORS ON THE FACEBOOK PAGE.
SO, UH, WE HOPE YOU CAN JOIN US.
SO 6:00 PM OCTOBER 19TH, THE BALLROOM AT BAYOU PLACE, 500 TEXAS AVENUE.
I WOULD JUST LIKE TO ADD, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN BECOMING A SPONSOR, IT IS NOT TOO LATE.
AND THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER NINA SPONSOR.
UH, WE WANNA GET A GROUP PHOTO WITH OUR DISTINGUISHED COUNCIL MEMBERS AND REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
IF YOU COULD COME ON UP WITH THE GROUP HERE IN THE FRONT SO WE CAN GET A PICTURE OF YOU ALL BEFORE, UH, BEFORE WE CLOSE OUT THE CEREMONY, DID WE LOSE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN? I THINK.