Latina Named to President’s Faith Based Council – Is it Enough?

A topic that’s been tossed around the NewsTaco table every now and then is Latino access to the Obama White House. It usually follows rhetorical questions about presidential promises.

Are there any Latinos who have the president’s ear? I mean beyond Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and  Labor Secretary Hilda Solis – those posts are visible, but are they influential as far as actual policy is concerned (how big a part of those positions is carrying out what was decided by others in the Oval Office?)?

This came to mind when I read that Andrea Bazán had been named to president’s advisory council on faith-based and neighborhood partnerships. The story is that the process was long and drawn-out. The “heavy-duty” vetting took months.

So who is Andrea Bazan? The newsobsever.com, from north Carolina, says

Bazán helped found El Pueblo, North Carolina’s largest Hispanic advocacy group, later serving as its first executive director. In 2008, she was named chairwoman of the National Council of La Raza’s board of directors. The council, based in Washington, is the largest civil rights advocacy organization in the country. A native of Argentina, Bazán came to the United States at age 14. She earned master’s degrees in public health and social work from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1995. She lives in Durham with her three daughters.

She’s an immigrant, and that’ll be good for the cause. But exactly what is the presidents advisory council on faith-based and neighborhood partnerships? Again the newsobserver.com;

The council, which convenes for one year, typically examines ways to better deliver social services. The last council, which recently completed its work, examined ways to help the poor during the economic recovery. It also made recommendations on issues such as fatherhood and healthy families and interreligious cooperation.

This is great, no doubt, but is it bad to expect more?