PHOENIX (By Jon Garrido, The Jon Garrido News Network) January 5, 2008 — Webster's definition of parity is the state of being equal or equivalent.

To achieve parity, the percentage of City of Phoenix middle and executive manager positions must equal the percentage of the Hispanic population of Phoenix.

In 2006 (latest U.S. Census data), Hispanics were 41.2% of Phoenix's population; therefore, Hispanics should hold 41.2% of Phoenix's middle and executive manager positions.

Hispanics do not. A dismal 13.3% of city middle and executive manager positions are occupied by Hispanics.

13.3% is significant under-representation. To achieve parity, the number of Hispanics occupying middle and executive manager positions must increase by more than 300%.

In comparison, Whites were 34.1% of Phoenix's population but held 76% of middle and executive manager positions.

Blacks at 5.6% of the population exceed parity by holding 7% of middle and executive manager positions.

This article is first in a series of articles that will investigate the causes of Hispanic non-representation and identify and measure the adverse impact non-representation has on the quality and level of services Phoenix Hispanics receive because of limited non-representation of Hispanic middle and executive managers with the City of Phoenix.

The first assumption is non-representation has an adverse impact on all City of Phoenix services and programs that should be provided to Phoenix Hispanics.

An other primary question because of non-representation disparity, what message does Phoenix send to other cities in the U.S. and Latin American countries in attracting Hispanic businesses to Phoenix?

With the current action to modify Phoenix Police Order 1.4, Phoenix is already sending a message Phoenix is not a hospitable welcoming community to Hispanic businesses and Hispanic tourists.

U.S. Hispanic purchasing power has surged to $863.1 billion in 2007 and is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2010 according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia's College of Business. Hispanic purchasing power growth is nearly three times the overall national rate of consumer purchasing power over the past decade.

Attracting Hispanic businesses and Hispanic tourists will be severely hampered if Phoenix is tagged as a "racist" city; unfortunately, this label is now being spread across the United States and Mexico.

According to the Washington Post, Arizona is identified as ground zero on immigration and for all practical purposes, Phoenix is Arizona.

Attracting and marketing Phoenix to increase growth and tourism is not limited to businesses and tourists, but the Phoenix Convention Center with its mandate to promote Phoenix has a significant role in Phoenix's image as a welcoming city.

The National Council of La Raza said its board of directors voted unanimously to pull the conference after being unable to reach an agreement with Mayor Mark Funkhouser over his appointment in June of Frances Semler, a member of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps.

Hispanic News is considering sending an email to everyone in our national and Latin America email directory (778,008 addresses) recommending because of Phil Gordon's action to modify Police Order 1.4 and now with the discovery of under-representation of Phoenix middle and executive managers as indicative of blatant racism, all Hispanic organizations, businesses and tourists across the United States and Mexico should be vigilant of Phoenix actions in the event Hispanic News determines a boycott of Phoenix is warranted and Hispanic News calls for a boycott by conventions, new businesses and tourists considering coming to Phoenix.

This will have a significant adverse impact on Phoenix that none of us want to happen but racism preventing the hiring of Hispanic middle and executive managers and modification of Police Order 1.4 sends a message — Phoenix is not a welcoming community for Hispanics.

This article serves notice to the City of Phoenix, Hispanic News will not be passive and idle as Phoenix goes from being a welcoming Hispanic city to following Lou Dobbs' premise blaming the demise of the United States on Hispanics. To have Phil Gordon appear on Lou Dobbs was a serious lapse in judgment and a revealing indictment of the chameleon (lizard that changes its color to its environment — in Gordon's case, whomever he is speaking to at the moment) known as Phil Gordon.

Another aspect of this series is to examine if the City of Phoenix has any unfair treatment of Hispanics in comparison to non-Hispanic employees.

Hispanic News began with investigating disparity of non-representation of Hispanic middle and executive managers but Hispanic News will now expand the scope of this discovery to explore if other inequities exist anywhere within the City of Phoenix.

Our first priority is too look at which departments are the most flagrant violators of parity. Of 34 City of Phoenix departments and offices, to our astonishment, 10 Phoenix departments do not have a single Hispanic middle or executive manager.

Some of these without a Hispanic manager have major functions and responsibilities such as Budget and Research, the Convention Center, Downtown Development, Library, Planning, and the Police.

The obvious question now becomes: Does not having a Hispanic middle or executive manager in these departments impact the level and quality of services to Phoenix Hispanics?

As the former economic development coordinator for the City of Tucson and a former department head for economic development for the City of El Paso, I have first hand experience and knowledge, executive managers of city departments have great influence in formulating policy recommendations to mayor and council and in departmental operations providing services.

In most cases, mayor and council respond to what is placed before them by city staff. I learned very early — whomever prepares the agenda walks away with 95% of what the agenda specified. It is department heads who prepare policy recommendations to mayor and council and it is department heads who are responsible for delivering programs and services to a city's populace.

Mayors and council members come and go and are no match for the expertise city professionals have in their areas especially those requiring in-depth knowledge, education, training and experience necessary to manage highly complex technical departments such as budget, planning, and economic development.

Thus, the importance of having Hispanic middle and executive managers in all city departments and offices is of utmost importance in what a city provides to its populace.

The next article in this series begins to look at individual Phoenix departments and offices to critique flagrant abuses of the lack of parity that applies to offenses or racism so severe they can neither escape notice nor be condoned. These are the 10 departments without one single Hispanic middle or executive manager: Budget and Research, the Convention Center, Downtown Development, Library, Planning, and the Police. There are other departments but the previous identified departments are the most important.

Hispanic News will probe city departments searching for irregularities and causes that create an atmosphere of permissive racism toward Hispanics.

Finally, who is to blame for blatant discrimination causing huge under-representation of Hispanic middle and executive managers with the City of Phoenix?

The city manager in a city manager form of government has sole authority to hire and fire department heads and to strongly influence the hiring of Hispanic middle managers under the auspices of a department head. Not only the city manager but all who serve as deputy and assistant city managers must share in the blame. Everyone working at this level must have known of the discrepancy of under-representation but obviously none stepped forth to correct deficiencies. To compound the problem, some staff at this level are Hispanics. They had to have known but lack courage to buck the system. These type Hispanics do not serve the higher standard of seeing a racist wrongdoing and then working to correct the problem.

In this regard, the city manager and all of his deputies have abused fiduciary responsibly to the Hispanic population of A New Vision for Phoenix, AZ: La Playa del Sol and consequently, they need to be replaced by persons who will fulfill all required responsibilities.

Lastly, where were the mayor and city council members? Obviously, not one cared enough about Hispanics to ask the city manager about the obvious racism exhibited and practiced toward Hispanics.

The last question which is vital to this discussion is why the mayor and council members never bother to address or question the lack of middle and executive managers. To Hispanics, the reason is obvious.