Nativo Lopez would like to have the general public and the media believe that he speaks for, cares about, and represents the interests of the majority of Mexican and other Latin American citizens and immigrants.

He actively and intentionally pursues the role as lead spokesperson, leader, and gatekeeper, a la Reverend Jesse Jackson of Chicago, and his counterpart, Reverend Al Sharpton of New York. Both of whom can be aptly be described as king shakedown artists.

They play gatekeeper quite profitably by browbeating deep-pocket corporations, who do business in African American and or Latino markets, into paying them off first or else face being charged publicly with the scourge of being racists and of practicing racist tactics and policies. There need be no evidence; speculation and accusations have sufficed up to the present day yielding huge pay-offs.

Too bad for Nativo, he is not a “Reverend.” That would give him the same sanctimonious cover his role models have enjoyed by being addressed as men of the cloth. Lopez could use the cover. Instead, at 17 he changed his first name from Larry to Nativo, which means native in Spanish.

Unlike the title of “Reverend,” which belies Jackson and Sharpton’s shakedown history, “Nativo” denounces his in your face polarizing public persona and his aggressive pattern of actions and words.

Earlier this year The Orange County Register wrote Lopez was controversial not only for his agenda, which promoted bilingual education and left-wing ethnic politics, but for the questionable financial dealings of his immigrant-rights group, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional HMN. The federal government dropped a lawsuit against Hermandad, but Citizens in Action, "a related non-profit, also directed by Lopez, paid $639,000 to settle claims that it hid Hermandad assets from federal seizure."

The Register’s Ronald Campbell and Courtney Perkes reported that between 2000 and 2001, Del Terra Real Estate Services Inc gave more than $100,000 to Citizens in Action, while working on a multimillion-dollar, no-bid school contract arranged by Citizens in Action co-founder and Santa Ana Unified school board member Nativo Lopez.

Del Terra's money helped keep Citizens in Action - the landlord for several groups affiliated with Lopez - afloat. At the same time, Santa Ana Unified officials say, Lopez was defending Del Terra's job performance.

If Del Terra had contributed to Lopez's school board campaigns, Lopez would have had to report it. But charitable donations, unlike campaign donations, do not have to be disclosed to the public.

Meanwhile the kids in Santa Ana were left in overcrowded dilapidated facilities and the District misspent over $2 million and now cannot deliver much needed new schools and repairs. The parents, predominantly Latino, enraged by his arrogance soundly recalled him in a special election. Despite the abundant aid from his friends in high places, including Senator Gil Cedillo, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, Assemblyman Lou Correa, and others, he still lost by a landslide.

Over the years, Lopez’s organization has received millions in grant money from the Federal Government, and from the California Dept of Education. K.L. Billingsley wrote in Heterodoxy in 1999 about how whistle blower, Robert Cervantes, a former California assistant superintendent of education, with a Ph.D. in educational psychology, lost his job after reporting that a group of so-called Community-Based Organizations could not account for how they had spent millions in federal funds.

Through the California Department of Education, Hermandad received 23 grants, from $428,000 in 1994-95 to $3,500,000 in 1997-98, the largest funding to any community based organization during those years. The department continued the funding even though Robert Cervantes noted concerns and Hermandad provided no documentation.

Then State Education Superintendent Delaine Eastin, gave all the community based organizations a clean bill of health and took until June of 1998 to demand repayment of $4.3 million from Hermandad. Her actions were prompted by Assemblyman Ray Haynes when he initiated a State audit of Hermandad and uncovered over $7 million dollars of apparently fraudulent activities. The department filed a suit for the $7 million and an additional $10 million in punitive damages, but in the end, less than a hundred thousand dollars was ever recovered.

Post his recall from the Santa Ana School Board in 2003, Nativo has been highly vocal and visible in his joint efforts with State Senator Gil Cedillo in his attempts to browbeat Governor Schwarzenegger into signing a bill granting drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. He has called for a few statewide strikes, which have been ineffective and PR failures.

One thing is certain though; this Nativo Lopez looks more and more like he could don the honorary title of "Reverend." He’d fit in with his role models nicely.

About the author: Martha Montelongo is a free-lance writer, and radio talk show personality. She hosts her own radio show and is a regular guest on political talk shows throughout California. She currently hosts a weekly show on KNTS News-Talk AM 1220 in San Francisco.

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