The New York Hispanic Ministers Breakfast

 Team Diaz 2013 Left - 15th City Council Candidate Rev. Joel Bauza, Senator Ruben Diaz Sr., Mayoral candidate Erick Salgado, and 11th City Council candidate Cheryl Keeling.

   The New York Hispanic Ministers led by State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz Sr. held a breakfast fundraiser to benefit their announced candidate for mayor Reverend Erick Salgado of Brooklyn. Over 150 clergy members from all over New York City came to the Bronx to help Senator Diaz raise money for mayoral candidate Salgado. Diaz Sr. is a veteran of many Bronx elections for District Leader, City Council, and State Senate. His son Ruben Diaz Jr. has won elected office as an assemblyman and now is the Bronx Borough President. Lately due to the changes in the state senate with the passage of legislation that goes against the moral principles of Senator Reverend Diaz and others in the clergy, the New York Hispanic Ministers have joined together to come up with candidates who have the same beliefs that they do.

The master of ceremonies for the breakfast was Bishop Luis Bonano. In attendance also were the Hispanic Ministers choice for the 11^th City Council District Ms. Cheryl Keeling, and 15^th City Council District Reverend Joel Bauza. 15^th Council candidate Rev. Joel Bauza spoke first about the importance of contributions and how they are matched 6 to 1 by the Campaign Finance Board to level out the playing field. There are limits on how much is matched, and that is the key. Senator Diaz then spoke on how it has been voting for Democrats in the past no matter who they were and sometimes no matter where they stood on certain topics. Those topics would never become legislation in the past, but now have. Diaz Sr. said “it's about time people voted our way, and for our candidates which includes Erick Salgado for Mayor”. When he introduced Democratic mayoral candidate Erick Salgado Senator Diaz handed him his check for $1,000.00.

    Salgado spoke at length on what is wrong with the city and how he would be a mayor of all five boroughs, not just an area of lower Manhattan. He wants to restore the police force to past levels, and spoke of being stopped by the police but not frisked after he identified himself. Salgado also spoke on the poor condition of the education system in the city that he says is failing the children. He wants to support small business, and reduce the government bureaucracy now in place. Salgado added that he has support from others than only Hispanics, which include Orthodox Jews, and the Russian community in Brooklyn who are supporting him. There was even a reporter from a Russian newspaper covering the event. He said these are the people who believe in the same moral values that we do.

    I asked Reverend Salgado about the candidacy of former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, which Salgado said would not hurt him. I continued that Carrion might not affect the Democratic primary, but in the November election he could steal enough votes from the Democratic candidate for the Republican candidate to win. Then when I asked Rev. Salgado if he would support the winner of the Democratic primary if he did not win he did not answer, and said that he would win adding that he would also be the candidate of the Conservative Party. I called Bill Newmark the Bronx Conservative Party Leader who said that while Rev. Salgado will be getting the endorsement of the Bronx Conservative Party that two other county organizations would need to also endorse him to allow the five borough New York City Conservative Party to have Rev. Salgado on their line. Chairman Newmark also told me that it looked like New York State Conservative Party Leader Mike Long was trying to convince three of the other borough Conservative leaders to endorse one of the Republican candidates for mayor. 

 Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz Sr. at the microphone as his 15th city council candidates Rev. Joel Bauza 15th and Cheryl Kelling 11th Council districts look on.

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