The leader of Hollister’s Mexican American Political
Association, Henry Sumaya, and the organization’s national
president are clashing again over the local chapter’s legitimacy,
although Sumaya said last week the group’s difficulties in gaining
a charter were over.
Hollister – The leader of Hollister’s Mexican American Political Association, Henry Sumaya, and the organization’s national president are clashing again over the local chapter’s legitimacy, although Sumaya said last week the group’s difficulties in gaining a charter were over.
Sumaya said last week the Hollister chapter is a legal MAPA charter and the group has hired San Francisco-based lawyer Eduardo Sandoval to defend itself against anyone who may disagree.
“If Nativo Lopez (president of the national MAPA) refuses to recognize us, we’ll take him through binding arbitration,” said Sumaya. “And if he (Lopez) has any legal questions, he can talk to our lawyer.”
But on Monday, Lopez said he hadn’t heard anything of the Hollister group hiring a lawyer. He also said Sumaya’s claims were false and the membership board had voted against approving the local chapter’s application for membership.
“Are these guys dense, or what? That’s absolutely not true.” Lopez said of Sumaya’s claim that the local chapter has received its charter. “The board voted to reject their application for a charter (in December), and that still stands. They resubmitted an application and they were told that it was rejected too.”
Sandoval couldn’t be reached for comment.
Lopez said Friday the national MAPA has no plans as of yet to take any legal action against Sumaya and his colleagues because they aren’t currently using the name to solicit funds as the organization says they have in the past.
“The only thing that we can do is that if they use the name, then we can sue them. If they continue to attempt to become a charter, there’s nothing we can do unless they attempt to use the name inappropriately, and absolutely we will do that if they use the name any further in an inappropriate manner,” Lopez said.
The Hollister chapter of MAPA has been feuding with the national organization since last September, when Lopez accused Sumaya and his colleagues of wrongly using the MAPA name to solicit donations. Sumaya’s group was not a chartered member of MAPA, the state organization said, and was committing fraud by soliciting in MAPA’s name.
But Sumaya said the state MAPA office cashed their check for 2004 membership fees months ago. Lopez denied the check had been cashed.
Lopez said the board’s rejection of Sumaya’s application was due to several factors, including a lapse in their charter status a few years ago and the group’s recent activities.
“It has much to do with divisiveness,” Lopez said. “The divisiveness with which they have conducted themselves with other organizations locally as well as with the state MAPA.”
Most recently, the Hollister chapter was involved in an effort to recall San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield.
The national MAPA is based mainly in California, with one chapter each in Las Vegas and Oklahoma. The organization seeks to educate Latinos on national and community issues and, said Sumaya, “defends people who can’t defend themselves.”
Without state and national support, he said, many of the resources used to defend these people are gone.
“The state chair (Lopez) is powerful enough to keep you from going to executive and state meetings,” Sumaya said.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at jq*****@fr***********.com.
