A new commission designed to give Salem’s Hispanic community direct access to City Hall is one step closer to becoming reality. A city committee voted unanimously this week to back the creation of a Hispanic Advisory Commission. The measure, pushed by business leader Jonathan Castro Monroy, now heads to the full City Council for final approval.
At its core, the Hispanic Advisory Commission would function as a permanent liaison between local government and a community that makes up a quarter of the city’s population but has little formal representation. The commission would host listening sessions, advise the council on policy issues, and organize cultural events like Viva Salem and Día de los Muertos with the help of donor funding.
A Growing Community Without a Voice
The scale of underrepresentation is hard to ignore. Nearly 25 percent of Salem residents identify as Hispanic or Latino, according to census data. In schools, the shift is even more striking: Hispanic students now make up the largest share of the Salem-Keizer School District, about 47 percent of enrollment — not quite a majority, but enough to signal a clear demographic shift.
Former City Councilor Jose Gonzalez — the council’s only Hispanic member until he left office in January — said the size and diversity of the Hispanic community make the commission a logical step. At the same time, he acknowledged that some residents may question whether creating one group’s commission will lead others to demand the same…