{news} Candidate Offers Latinos A Voice

[David Bedell]

http://www.courant.com/news/local/nb/hc-nebgreen1015.artoct15,0,4296819.story


Candidate Offers Latinos A Voice

Green Party Mayoral Hopeful Miguel Nieves, Pushes For Progress In City

By LORETTA WALDMAN
Courant Staff Writer

October 15 2005

NEW BRITAIN -- At a mayoral debate on early childhood education last week, 
Green Party candidate Miguel Nieves was nervous.

Like his two opponents, he wore a dark suit, but his speech was halting and 
lacked the polish and force of his rivals, Democrat Jason Jakubowski and 
Mayor Timothy Stewart, the Republican incumbent.

Then came a moment of candor when, for a few seconds, Nieves strayed from 
his script. The audience of educators, city officials, and parents sat 
motionless and rapt as Nieves, 40, spoke of the importance his mother placed 
on education. She never missed an event or teacher conference at school, he 
recalled, even if it meant returning home in the dark and on foot.

Nieves is a self-described business administrator and "action person," he 
said, a Puerto Rican native who grew up in Hartford and moved to New Britain 
as an adult. Nieves says he believes it's time the city's Latino population 
had a voice. More than 60 percent of the city's roughly 71,000 residents are 
Hispanic, he said, yet those serving in local government are overwhelmingly 
white.

But Nieves stresses that his campaign is not only for "my people," he said.

"When I talk, I talk about the needs of every resident," he said while 
relaxing with coffee at a busy South Street restaurant the day after the 
debate.

"We haven't seen any progress in the city," he said. "Taxes, jobs, economic 
growth, we're way behind other cities surrounding us."

This week, Nieves unveiled a plan to provide illegal immigrants with 
temporary ID cards so they can open bank accounts, prove their identity to 
police and access social services. He is supportive of seniors and veterans, 
according to statements on his website, www.nieves.politicalgateway.com.

A 1984 graduate of Hartford High School, Nieves attended Moore School of 
Business and the University of Hartford and holds an associate's degree in 
business administration. Though not working at the moment, his professional 
experience includes two years as a program specialist with the Boy Scouts of 
America, and as a store manager and community organizer. Nieves also has 
done volunteer work with a number of community organizations, including the 
Salvation Army and Spanish Speaking Center.

Nieves has never held elected office, but ran for city alderman in 1992.

That and a sense of community service - something else he learned from his 
mother - inspires him to keep trying, he said. At a daylong open house at 
his West Main Street campaign headquarters Wednesday, Felicita Perez 
listened and looked on supportively as her son chatted with two men. Nieves 
was offering free haircuts to anyone who dropped by, courtesy of a barber 
friend. There were fewer than a dozen takers, but he didn't seem to mind.

"We still have more work to do," he said. "At a time when government 
officials are fighting with each other, we are here talking about how we can 
bring change to the city."

Copyright 2005, Hartford Courant