The Editor: LULAC has filed a lawsuit against Domingo Garcia asking the district court in Dallas, Texas

to enter a declaratory judgment that Domingo Garcia is not qualified to be a candidate for the office of President of the organization. National LULAC alleges in its petition to the court that while Domingo Garcia is a life-term member of LULAC, he has failed to a member in good standing of a local council in 2009 and 2012. Luis Vera, the attorney signed on to this case by National LULAC, was bragging in San Antonio that at the time of the LULAC National Convention in Las Vegas this year, that he would rule on Domingo Garcia's qualifications to be a candidate for national office as legal counsel for National LULAC and that his ruling would need a 2/3 vote of the National LULAC Assembly to overturn his ruling. This blog ran a story about this Vera gossip a few weeks ago. When word got out to Domingo Garcia's friends in LULAC what Vera was going to do, their response was that Domingo Garcia would have the 2/3's vote needed to over-ride a ruling by Luis Vera. Running scared, the National LULAC Board, decided to take the matter to court for a declaratory judgment against Domingo Garcia. Margaret Moran and her national LULAC machine are out of money and out of votes from island Puerto Rico. The only source of any significant money which used to come from the former Governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuno, is nowhere to be found, the Fortuno and his entire PNP political party were voted out of office in Puerto Rico's state and local elections this past November 2012. They were beaten by a pro-commonwealth, anti-statehood, pro-status political party, the PDP, los "Pepes."

Walter Martinez was seen as the last source of significant money to finance a national campaign for Margaret Moran and her cronies. Law enforcement has its eyes on Walter Martinez' dealing with Margaret Moran and National LULAC. Getting money from Walter Martinez to Margaret is almost impossible. There are too many tracks, "huellas," when you are trying to move that much money around. Checks leave a trail. Cash money can get moved around, like in the cartels, laundering of funds, but that gets you into criminal territory in a heart beat. The lawsuit would be bad for any LULAC'er. If the National LULAC Board can get a court to disqualify a candidate for not being in good standing for three years prior to filing, they can get a court to disqualify you for any other reason in the list of qualifications to run for office. Subsection c. of Section 4 would disqualify any candidate running for LULAC National office if your incumbent opponent wants to have you disqualified for lacking "good moral character" to be a candidate to run for office. When Francisco Madero ran for office against the Dictator Porfirio Diaz, Diaz had Madero put in jail while the election for President of Mexico proceeded. What Margaret Moran is doing is the act of a petty dictator. That the National LULAC Board supports this brutal attack on the voting rights of LULAC'ers puts them in the same mold. The court should rule that the issue before the court is mute, void, on the facts that an election has not taken place yet. Judicially, the cause of action lacks for ripeness. The National Executive Board of National LULAC should communicate to all of its LULAC members that based on the information at hand

that Domingo Garcia is not qualified to be a candidate for National office because he has failed to be a member in good standing in a local LULAC council in 2009 and 2012, that Domingo Garcia can challenge the ruling at the National Convention in Las Vegas before the LULAC National Assembly, just like Luis Vera said a few weeks ago. Subsection b. of Section 5 provides for candidate for National office to be nominated from the floor, provided that they the endorsement of the whole delegation of five councils. In LULAC, you can announce timely and get a court injunction to keep you from running or you can wait your time, announce from the floor, be endorsed by five full delegated councils on the floor and never have a court injunction to bar you from being a candidate. Why should a Democrat Judge Emily G. Tobolowsky of the 298th District Court of Dallas County who barely won by 53% of the vote in Dallas County want to rule on an issue that the members of LULAC can deal with at their National Convention in Las Vegas in a few months, by the the time the Judge rules, it could be a matter of a few days before the elections in Vegas. The case should be tossed out because it lacks ripeness. If the Editor recalls in the lawsuit between Jaime Martinez and Hector Carrillo against LULAC, Luis Vera used similar arguments to have the San Antonio court throw out the case on the grounds of ripeness. According to Luis Vera, decision making in LULAC for its members is to the National Board with appeal to the General Assembly of LULAC at its next LULAC Convention or at a special called meeting of the National

Assembly. Margaret Moran, a Republican, is going to get her justice from a Democrat judge in Dallas, where Texas LULAC in Dallas and Ft. Worth are well known for getting out the vote on election day. This lawsuit smells of stupidity on the part of Luis Vera, Manuel Escobar, the double dealing LULAC lawyer and Walter Martinez lawyer, Margaret Moran and the National LULAC Board, who are driven by a blind hate for mainland LULAC and have made a very stupid legal move against Domingo Garcia, a respected Texas legislator, a respected lawyer in his field of practice and a great Latino leader at the local, state and national levels. The Editor predicts a Garcia victory in the Dallas courtroom and a victory in Las Vegas. The Editor read the duties and responsibilities of the National Officers and cannot find any authority in the LULAC Constitution that permits the National LULAC Boar to sue candidates for national LULAC office. The closest language in the constitution regarding the officers and elections is a provision in Section 9, Subsection (8) providing that the national President "To refrain from taking sides or influencing any individual or group, directly or by inference, in LULAC elections at whatever level;" There must have been a reason that the LULAC Constitution contains this provision. The Editor wonders if what Margaret Moran is trying to do to Domingo Garcia does not illustrate with finite clarity the reason for this prohibition.

If Domingo Garcia is going to run for office, he will need a slate of other candidates to run with. Those candidates will be announced on the floor. In the meanwhile, do not announce too early, Luis Vera and Manuel Escobar will have you enjoined from being a viable candidate. They will disqualify you from running on the grounds that you lack "good moral character."
Section 4.Qualifications: All National Officers, whether elected or appointed, must: a. Be twenty.one years of age or older and must have been an Active Member of a Local or Young Adult Council in good standing for at least three consecutive years at the time of his or her election or appointment; b. Have held an administrative office for one year at the Local, District or State level within three years of his or her appointment. In the case of the Legal Advisor, the person must possess a law degree and be a practicing attorney in good standing; c. Be of good moral character and possess some demonstrated administrative ability necessary for the discharge of the duties pertaining to the office; d. Not have served in the same office, whether intermittently or consecutively, for more than four years; e. Have the approval and endorsement of his or her Local Council. f. Not hold an elective or appointive political office at the time of his or her election or appointment or at any time during their tenure of LULAC Office. School Board or those positions where no wage compensation or enumeration is received shall not be deemed a political office. g. Members deriving employment wages from any organization owned by or that bears the LULAC name are ineligible to run for or hold a LULAC office, elective or appointive. A complete year must elapse from the last employment date before they are eligible to run for a LULAC office. Section 5. Election of National Officers a. All candidates for an elective office must have their name submitted by their Local Council to the National Executive Committee sixty days prior to the National Convention. The National Executive Committee shall inform the Local Councils of the announced candidates through LULAC NEWS or other expedient medium of communication. A candidate for national office must be supported by the entire delegation of his council.

b. Nominations from the floor of last minute candidates not previously announced as provided in Subsection a. above, shall be permitted, provided that a written certification of endorsement by the total accredited delegations of a minimum of five Councils, including the persons home council, is made to the presiding Officer prior to or at the time of nomination. c. All elective National Officers, with the exception of State Directors who are elected by their respective State Assemblies, shall be elected by a majority vote of the accredited delegates to the National Assembly. For those unusual but possible instances where the balloting does not give a clear cut majority vote to any candidate, the following procedures shall prevail: (1) In those cases in which the balloting fails to give anyone of three or more candidates the necessary majority to be elected, a second balloting will be held for the two receiving the largest number of votes in the first ballot; (2) In those cases in which only two candidates are running and the balloting ends in a tie, the National President shall cast the deciding vote. d. Voting in National elections shall be by roll call, a show of hands or secret ballot, as the Rules Committee may recommend and the National Assembly may approve. e. Candidates for National Vice President for a geographical region must belong to a council within the region. The six LULAC regional areas are listed below.