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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
What is the DC Latino Caucus? The DC Latino Caucus is a DC registered non-profit organization that serves as a channel for the participation and involvement of Latinos in civic engagement and political activities within the greater Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area. Through its PAC, the DC Latino Caucus PAC, the DC Latino Caucus will promote Latino involvement in the political process through voter registration and educational projects; endorsing specific Democratic Party candidates and candidates who are seeking an elective or appointed office affecting the Washington metropolitan area. The organization was registered with DCRA on March 18, 2011, with its own tax id and bank account. What is the DC Latino Caucus PAC? The DC Latino Caucus PAC is a PAC owned by the DC Latino Caucus used by the Caucus to engage in political activities in the Democratic Party. Its main purpose is to endorse Democratic candidates and elect two Ex-Officio Officers to serve on the DC Democratic Party. Membership and other information about the DC Latino Caucus PAC is available at the DC Latino Caucus website under link “documents.” The PAC has its own bank account and all financial filings are public records with the DC Office of Campaign Finance (OCF). What am I a member of? The DC Latino Caucus has a PAC called the DC Latino Caucus PAC. All membership is handled through the DC Latino Caucus PAC. How was the DC Latino Caucus operating before? The DC Latino PAC helped organize a Presidential Gala and had some rejection with the name PAC. The DC Latino Caucus name was first introduced after the Obama inauguration in 2009, in response to the DC Latino PAC name rejection. While the DC Latino Caucus name has been used, the name DC Latino Caucus was not legally incorporated or registered until March 2011. It is legal for members and affiliate organizations of the DC Democratic Party to operate in Washington DC without being legally incorporated. The organizations are registered as Political Action Committee (PAC) organizations with the DC Office of Campaign Finance (OCF). In fact, many of the member and affiliate organizations of the DC Democratic Party legally operate this way today. Are the PAC finances the same as the Caucus? Up until March 2011, the DC Latino Caucus did not have any bank accounts in its name or its own tax id. All bank accounts and any donations were handled though the bank account of the PAC and a PayPal account. All the financial statements of the PAC are public and can be view on-line at: http://ocf.dc.gov/IMAGING/SEARCHIMAGES.ASP. The PayPal account was opened in 2010 and every transaction that has hit the PayPal account since it was opened, is listed here. With the incorporation of the DC Latino Caucus as a legal organization, it now has its own bank account and tax id. What about elections to the DC Latino Caucus, and elections to the DC Latino PAC, I hear there was a challenge to the February 24, 2011 DC Latino Caucus elections? The Organization always has taken measures to correct flaws and prevent them from happening again. Much of the efforts to restructure the DC Latino Caucus, by incorporating the organization and putting together a Board, is in response to the most recent claim of election dissatisfaction. The DC Democratic Party assisted with the February 24, 2011 elections, and both organizations are working together to address all on-going community concerns. The DC Latino PAC does not have elections for Officers, it is tasked with electing the two Ex-Officio Officers to the DC Democratic Party and conducting endorsement for Democratic candidates. To learn more about the structure of the DC Latino, visit the DC Latino Caucus website at http://www.dclc.org and click on “DC Latino Caucus PAC Guidelines and Procedures” under documents link. How many members does the DC Latino Caucus PAC has? About 400, since the PAC originated in 2005. Are these all paid current members? No. After some consultation, the organization was made aware that it should not be charging a mandatory fee to have members. There still appears to be some level of confusion on this area for local/federal PACs. So the membership fee required on the application, had become a non-required donation/contribution. This wasn’t clear to a lot of people as not only some old applications were still in circulation with the old language requiring an application fee, but the website did not clearly specify that the membership wasn’t mandatory. The by-laws also were not specific about this change. Most PAC members are not paid members. Membership to the PAC are non-mandatory contributions. These contributions, usually for $10.00 or $20.00 are not tax deductible and are reported to the DC Office of Campaign finance. With this restructure can anyone be a member and can people from Maryland and Virginia be full voting members? We are pending final recommendation from the DC Democratic Party on this issue, but it is the intent of the DC Latino Caucus to continue its policy to allow ANYONE that has interest in the work we do to be a full participating member of the organization. Do you have to be a Democrat to join the PAC? Even though, the PAC does not have the word Democratic in its title, the DC Latino Caucus PAC is a Democratic PAC, it is so defined in its mission “to elected two Ex-Officio to the DC Democratic Party and to endorse Democratic candidates.” As such, the DC Democratic Party may ask that the name of the PAC be changed to include in its title the word Democrat. I do not want to be a member of the DC Latino PAC any more how do I terminate my membership? Send an email to information@dclc.org and indicate you wish to have your email (name) removed from the list. Your name will be removed from the list and you will not receive any communications from either the DC Latino Caucus or its PAC. How did you elect the 13 DC Latino Caucus Board members and who are they? The new Board is made up of community leaders and DC Latino Caucus PAC members. The new organization was incorporated legally and the incorporating Officers were tasked with the initial search for a diverse Board. To see how the board is elected and their terms, please visit the website, www.dclc.org and click on DC “Latino Caucus by-laws” under documents link. The 13 DC Latino Caucus Board members are listed below. Check website later for a short bio of each member.
Algris Xiomara Aldeano, College Professor and author
Is there a place
to leave public comments? Yes, you can visit our blog to leave
a public comment at:
http://dclc.org/blog/?p=30
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