Posted on Sun, Oct. 28, 2007
Hispanic advocates will continue to seek Frances Semler’s removal from park board

By BILL GRAHAM
The Kansas City Star
Local Hispanic advocates and a national labor leader said Sunday they will continue to seek the removal of Frances Semler from Kansas City’s park board.

The latest development in the ongoing battle over Semler’s appointment by Mayor Mark Funkhouser came at a news conference local leaders called to launch new efforts to educate the public about their position.

They have sought Semler’s dismissal or resignation from the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners because of her membership in the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a national anti-illegal immigration group.

Funkhouser has said that although his views often differ from Semler’s, he will not remove her from the park board because her work is not related to immigration and he doesn’t want to infringe on her freedom of speech. That position recently prompted the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group, to withdraw its convention scheduled for Kansas City in 2009.

Local leaders said Sunday they would continue to oppose Semler’s position on the park board because they think the Minuteman programs are divisive and contribute to racist attitudes against all Hispanics in the United States.

Also speaking on their behalf on Sunday was Dolores C. Huerta, a co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America. Huerta, 77, of Bakersfield, Calif., received an International Peace Award on Saturday from the Community of Christ Church in Independence. She also leads a foundation devoted to community organizing for civil issues.

Huerta said that efforts by groups such as the Minuteman’s to get anti-immigration laws passed are obscuring problems with federal immigration law that keeps workers America needs out of the country.

“This organization is creating so much hatred and divisiveness in our communities,â€