Embattled Huntington Park Councilwoman Rosa Perez responds to “Americans” comment

Huntington Park City Councilwoman Rosa E. Perez, through City Attorney H. Francisco Leal, issued the following exclusive statement to Hews Media Group on Thursday afternoon.

Huntington Park City Councilwoman sounds off on “Americans”

“It is unfortunate that individuals with a specific agenda have misconstrued my comments during a recent city council meeting to advance their personal agenda.
“During my remarks in response to a resident’s comments to local water rates, I used the term ‘Americano’ to denote those individuals who were in power when the first contracts were signed.
“For those in the know, “Americano” is a term sometime used by Spanish speaking individuals of Anglo descent or Non-Hispanic living in the United States. It was in no way meant to be used to delineate individuals who are American “by birth or naturalized” from those who are immigrants. In retrospect I should have used any other term to describe the earlier council members who were not of Hispanic descent.”
“If I have offended anyone by the term “Americano” I apologize and would look to choose my words to describe non-Hispanics more carefully in the future.”
“For the record, I am a proud American citizen, by choice, and was naturalized in 1976. I love this country and the opportunities it has afforded me, my family and my constituents.”
“Contact City Attorney H. Francisco Leal at (213) 628-0808 with any additional inquires.”