By Máximo Torres –
Juan Vega, already one of the community’s most recognized activists, is joining Gov. Charlie Baker’s growing team of Latino professionals.
Vega, a former Chelsea City Councilor and ex-president of that body, is leaving his longtime post as president and executive director of Chelsea’s CENTRO LATINO.
“It’s an honor for me to work with the governor,” Vega said.
The list of Latinos who have already accepted positions within the Baker Administration includes: Carol Sánchez, commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation; Francisco Ureña, secretary of state for veterans’ services and Jabes Rojas, deputy chief of staff for access and opportunity for the Commonwealth.
Vega will be reunited with another well-known Chelsea leader, Jay Ash, when he begins his work as assistant secretary for Housing and Economic Development. Baker, a Republican, had previously appointed Ash, a Democrat and former city manager of Chelsea, as secretary.
Vega begins his new role today.
“In Chelsea I left a little bit of my heart,” Vega said, “but I’m happy to have reached the goal I’d set of expanding Centro Latino. Now it’s recognized and respected for the good services it brings to the immigrant community, like classes in English, computing and citizenship, not to mention the health services it provides.”
In his new role in the Baker Administration, Vega will have input in the state’s resources and policy for economic development.
“It’s what the governor wants,” Vega said. “Communities like Chelsea, Holyoke or Lawrence, where there are concentrations of immigrants, lack economic development. Our job will be to work with small businesses, Chambers of Commerce, community organizations and others that could make use of state resources.”
The appointment is a stick in the eye for many Latino activists who campaigned against Baker who used the scare tactic that Baker was an anti-Latino and anti-immigrant Republican.
“I now have to tip my hat and actually congratulate Governor Baker for his commitment so far in diversifying his administration”, admitted a former Latina Martha Coakley supporter.
