Community advocate to lead Hispanic office

Longtime community advocate Jesse Soriano has been named director of the Hispanic/Latino Affairs Office.

Soriano said Tuesday that he's hoping to use his past experience working in government, along with his strong ties to the community, to bolster the office's role.

"I'm hoping that we can make that an office that the community will really feel is a valuable office, valuable in terms of what it can do to work with state agencies to improve services to the Hispanic community," Soriano said.

Palmer DePaulis, executive director of the Utah Department of Community and Culture, appointed Soriano with approval from the governor. Soriano, currently director of the Health Sciences Ethnic Minority Office at the University of Utah, will transition into the post over the next month.

DePaulis said Soriano's extensive experience working with Utah's Hispanic community on several boards and organizations over the past 19 years made him an attractive candidate. That experience includes work with the Utah Coalition of La Raza, Utah Issues and the Utah Health Department's Ethnic Advisory Council. Soriano is also chairman of the Utah Hispanic/Latino Advisory Council, which works in conjunction with the Hispanic/Latino Affairs Office.

"He's already familiar with the issues," DePaulis said. "I have been working with him on several issues, particularly health care and education."

Soriano said he'd like to improve communication with the community about the office's accomplishments.

The office "is going to work collaboratively with state agencies," he said, "and hopefully serve as a bridge between the agencies and the community."

DePaulis said the selection process started with more than 40 applicants and was whittled down to seven finalists. The position has been vacant since May, when former director Leo Gonzalez stepped down to take a position in the private sector.

Gonzalez's appointment had been controversial among some in the Hispanic community who had said he was a virtual unknown and a shoo-in because of political connections. The office has also been criticized for its new direction, which some say has lost touch with the community.

AnnaJane Arroyo, chairwoman of Image de UTAH-NU CHAC, said she hoped Soriano would work with all the state's Latino cultures on issues such as racial profiling and employment in state government.

"I would hope he would continue to serve the Latino community as he has with UCLR and other organizations he's been involved in," she said. "We'll just wait and see."

The Office of Ethnic Affairs, under the Department of Community and Culture, also includes the Asian, Black and Pacific Islander affairs offices.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com