ON THE SIDE. . .

ON THE SIDE. . .
This and that from the world of Valley politics.
FIELD ORGANIZER: The John Kerry presidential committee named Rick Barga as the field organizer for the Mahoning Valley. The Tiffin, Ohio, native is working out of the Mahoning County Democratic Party's headquarters in the Plaza Building in downtown Youngstown. Barga organizes local Kerry volunteer meetings and telephone banks. Barga served as a field staff member for the Massachusetts senator's presidential campaign in Iowa, Michigan, Maryland and Washington. The Kerry campaign has eight field organizers in Ohio.
Hispanic voters: Members of Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana Inc., a Youngstown-based Hispanic organization, recently met with Sila Maria Calderon, governor of Puerto Rico and the first woman to hold that position, at an event in Cleveland. The members say Calderon urged Puerto Ricans living in the United States to register to vote. The governor is leading a nonpartisan voter registration drive, Que Nada Nos Detenga (Let Nothing Stop Us), to get Puerto Ricans living in the United States to vote. Calderon said the voting rate of Puerto Ricans drops significantly when they move from the island to the 50 states. The local organization is getting behind her initiative.
skolnick@vindy.com