[Letter from Armando C. de Baca to Manuel Gonzales - 1976-07-12] Page: 1 of 6
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ATTORNEY AT LAW
ARMANDO CDE BACA
1236 HXX DELAWARE STREET
DENVER. COLORADO 80204
TELEPHONE 303-B34-3082
July 12, 1976
Mr. Manuel Gonzales
LULAC National President
1712 N. 15th Street
Waco, Texas 76707
Dear Mr. Gonzales:
Mary Olivas, our Deputy State Director-elect has asked me to submit a plan on
the challenged election of the State Director of Colorado. It is my under-
standing that this request has met with your approval.
In order to fulfill this request, I believe that a brief history of this
challenge is in order:
1. I was first contacted by Paul Maestas, State Director, who informed
me that he had received a letter from Felix Montoya, president of Council No.
3016, shortly before our State convention. Mr. Montoya asked that I, as the
State Legal Advisor, rule on the eligibility of Leo Cardenas, a candidate for
State Director. I reminded Mr. Maestas that a similar challenge had occurred
when he first ran for State Director and I had researched the LULAC constitution
at that time on a similar eligibility question regarding three-year membership
and one year experience in an administrative capacity.
In the case of Mr. Cardenas, I was provided with a telegram from Pete Tijerina,
a former LULAC officer from Texas and a practicing attorney, who vowed for
Mr. Cardenas1 three-year membership. I accepted this as evidence and also ruled
that the three-year membership does not have to be within three years.
The second eligibility issue was that of holding an administrative office for
one year within the last three years. Information provided by Mr. Montoya showed
that Mr. Cardenas was elected parliamentarian of his council in September 1975—
clearly not a year. However, the letter pointed out the reason Mr. Cardenas
had taken office in September rather than in March (the normal LULAC election
of council officers' month), was because he had been elected to an unexpired term.
In ruling on this issue, I relied on Article VI, Section 6, sec. a., Tenure of
Office. This section points out that the "term of office for each elected or
appointed officer is for one year... .unless he is removed for just cause before
the end of his term." Mr. Cardenas was elected at the local council level on just
these terms: that is, after the previous parliamentarian was removed for fail-
ing to maintain membership.
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de Baca, Armando C. [Letter from Armando C. de Baca to Manuel Gonzales - 1976-07-12], letter, July 12, 1976; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth250951/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hoston History Research Center at Houston Public Library.