Dib Comment Misconstrued

Kezia Jauron’s letter (“Guessing Your Citizenship,” Times Valley Edition Letters, Feb. 21) is filled with misinformation based on my comment to a Times reporter being taken out of context.

I personally stood at the Viva Market on the corner of Van Nuys and Glenoaks boulevards from morning to night for an entire week.

I wanted to get my signatures right away to qualify first. I asked a wide variety of people to sign my petition for the 7th District City Council seat.

How could I be prejudiced against the Latino community when I have six grandchildren who are Latino? In fact, only 31% of Latinos are registered in the district, but I had Latinos sign my petition.

Jauron’s comment on my “unfamiliarity with the community” is unfounded. I am more involved in this area than all the other candidates put together. That’s why I plan on having a representative of every major ethnic group in the community on my staff.

Here are just a few examples of my involvement with the Latino community:

* Member of the board of directors of the Chicano Community Workers, chaired by Father Valbuena.

* Chaired a committee of the Northeast San Fernando Valley Rotary Club to assist the Boys Club and helped to acquire funds for a Youth Wing at Pacoima Memorial Hospital.

* Chaired committees to put together Thanksgiving baskets for the northeast Valley area, fruit baskets for the Pacoima Christmas parade and Martin Luther King birthday celebration; solicited produce donations from the L.A. Produce Market to be given away to all children in attendance.

* Past president of the Northeast Valley Rotary Club and Arleta Chamber of Commerce, and past president of the Pacoima Senior Citizens for United Concern.

I hope this clarifies my commitment to the 7th District.

AL DIB

Dib is a candidate for the Los Angeles City Council.