By Marvin G. Cortner

Editor

About 30 residents in Buenaventura Lakes have formed a group to organize a recall of Osceola County Commissioner John Quiñones, last re-elected in November to a four-year term, and a comment from one member of the group has sparked outrage among local Hispanics.

According to Kathy Sperling, group spokesperson, dissatisfaction in local government and Quiñones’ record on county and district 2 issues are the reasons in general for the recall effort. Sperling said the group has already started collecting signatures for the recall petition.

There may be a problem, though, with the effort. According to state statute, a recall petition may not be filed until Quiñones has served at least one-fourth of his term, which would be one year.

In a press release announcing formation of the recall group, Sperling stated that four-and-a-half years ago Quiñones resigned as state representative shortly after his re-election to state office in order to run for district 2 county commissioner.

"We were disgusted when he resigned from state office to run for the commission; he really let us down,” Sperling stated, adding that the county position pays more than double that of the state representative salary. “The county has laid off numerous workers and reduced the salaries of many, but the commissioners are paid in excess of $ 70,000. A new bill in the Legislature, if passed, will allow commissioners to voluntarily reduce their pay. So far, not one commissioner, including Quiñones, has agreed to a pay reduction despite the increasing depressed state of the county."

Sperling further stated that amid the layoffs, Quiñones created a new position for an assistant, spent thousands of dollars on beautification projects while “he fires anyone who he has personal issues with, costing the county a fortune in severance pay.” Sperling said Quiñones also is “accused of demanding disbandment of an advisory committee he created when the committee began discussing their misgivings” about him.

In a phone interview Thursday morning, Sperling specifically mentioned that some residents are unhappy about the renaming of a park in BVL after the U.S. Army's 65th Infantry without first consulting residents and without consulting the county's parks advisory committee. She also said residents are angry about the lack of progress associated with a drainage project on a former golf course in the community and with problems associated with that project.

In the Orlando Sentinel, Sperling is quoted as saying the 65th Infantry didn't deserve to have a park named after it because so many of the group were court-martialed and were “traitors” for refusing to fight at one point in the Korean War.

Sperling also said residents are upset that the renovation of the Robert Guevara Community center didn't result in the facility having a kitchen or being able to serve as a hurricane shelter.

In response, Quiñones said the recall group is motivated by his decision to honor American military heroes, specifically the recent renaming of a Walk-N-Sticks park after the U.S. Army's 65th Infantry, which was comprised of Puerto Ricans. Quiñones is of Puerto Rican descent.

“Their motives speak volumes about the quality and character of this group,” Quiñones said, adding that he believes the underlying reason for the recall effort is racism.

Action involving any of the projects cited by Sperling required approval by at least three county commissioners. In addition, commissioners have no direct authority to hire or fire county employees other than the three charter officers, which include the county attorney, county manager and commission auditor. To fire any of the charter officers requires at least three votes.

When asked on what specific grounds the group's recall effort is based, Sperling said it would fall under incompetence. Other grounds for recall, according to state statute, include: malfeasance (commission of an act that is unlawful), misfeasance (doing a lawful act in an unlawful or improper manner), neglect of duty, drunkenness, permanent inability to perform official’s duties and conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude. 

Press conference

At a press conference this afternoon at the 65th Infantry Veterans Park, Quiñones – flanked by Kissimmee Commissioners Art Otero and Wanda Rentas and more than 150 supporters – again said the recall group's efforts are motivated by bigotry.

“This park was named in honor of the 65th Infantry, and the County Commission unanimously voted to do that; I offer no apologies for my action,” Quiñones said. “The members of this group have said before they don't want diversity.”

Quiñones cited a 2007 news story about an email from an individual in the group that stated that an “Anglo needs to win the commissioner's seat, not an Hispanic.”

“This community will not let this group take root at the expense of the 65th Infantry. Puerto Ricans are here to stay, to work, to pay taxes and to raise our families,” Quiñones said.

Quiñones also said there needs to be a new level of political involvement by Hispanics in local government, including running for office, redistricting, serving on local advisory boards and larger voter turnout for elections.

“When we do that, we will look racism in the eye and we can say, 'Basta ya (enough already)!'” he said.

Otero, who was born in Puerto Rico and who recently announced a run for mayor in Kissimmee, called the comments by Sperling relating to the 65th Infantry “garbage” and urged people to get out and vote in the 2012 elections.

Armando Ramirez, who also attended the press conference, stated in an earlier email that those who know the real story about this military unit should be outraged and should support the effort to refute a false and racist remark.

“If we don't stop this now, we will have no respect,” Ramirez stated.

Ramirez, also of Puerto Rican descent, ran against Quiñones in the 2010 election and is challenging the election in court. Ramirez lost by 50 votes.

The military unit, called the “Borinqueneers,” fought in World War 1, World War II and the Korean War. The group, which saw extensive combat during the Korean War, was started in 1899; it disbanded after the Korean War. A number of veterans who served in the regiment in the Korean War – or their descendants – live in Osceola County.

More on 65th Infantry

According to information provided by Ramirez, in December of 1954, 162 Puerto Ricans of the 65th Infantry were arrested. Ninety-five soldiers were court-martialed and 91 were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to 18 years of hard labor. It was the largest mass court-martial of the Korean War.

The government of Puerto Rico, caught in the middle of a potentially damaging affair that could jeopardize its political agenda, kept silent for nearly two months. Finally, the incidents were made known by a local newspaper alerted by several letters written by the imprisoned soldiers to their families. Secret negotiations between the U.S. and Puerto Rican governments were made and the Secretary of the Army moved quickly to remit the sentences and granted clemency and pardons to all those involved.