Logan council member describes diversity status as ‘complicated’

Ernesto Lopez is the newest members of the Logan City Council and its first representative of Hispanic origin. Image courtesy of Logan City.

LOGAN – The city of Logan’s newest municipal council member views the status of cultural diversity in Cache Valley communities as “complicated.”

“It’s complicated because, as thankful as I am to be part of this governing body,” says Ernesto López, “I’m only the first Hispanic to serve in it.”

López’s comments came during a Jan. 19 opening address to fellow council members that included a long list of similar contradictions that might be faced by members of local minority groups.

The new council member’s comments also seemed like an unintended prediction of a brewing controversy over representation on the municipal panel when he said, “if a democracy is for the people and by the people, it’s best if it reflects the people that it serves.”

López joined the Logan City Council in October 2020 after being selected to serve out the unexpired term of Jess Bradfield, who resigned in September of that year to assume the duties of clerk/auditor for Cache County.

“My hope,” López said, after being sworn in by City Judge Lee Edwards, “is to see the governing bodies of the city I love be more representative of the make-up of its population.”

A native of Tijuana, López immigrated to the United States as a teenager in 1996. He is an instructional course designer for the Extension Service at Utah State University. His previous professional experience includes serving as a distance learning manager and technical trainer for Harris Research, managing the Logan Multicultural Center and serving low-income families at Bear River Head Start.

In his Jan. 19 remarks, López credited local teachers with helping him exceed the expectations of many immigrants to Cache Valley.

“They pushed me to excel with love and care,” he recalled. “Without their understanding and willingness to help me get over my language barriers, I would not be here today.”

Despite his successes, López added that he still feels only “a fragile sense” of belonging within the local community.

“I don’t believe,” he explained, “every immigrant or diverse individual in this county shares the same feeling.

“We have a part of society that says to immigrants ‘we need you to work our underpaid fields, factories, hotels, restaurants, construction, etc.’ and offers them a job, while at the same time another part of society blames that same group for the various challenges in their communities.

“We celebrate the sports accomplishments from professional athletes and we also condemn them for using their public exposure to denounce racial inequalities.

Many of us believe that God commanded us to love our neighbor, yet we seek to build walls to divide us.”

López’s comments came just two weeks before the Logan City Council is set to begin discussion of a report from a citizen committee that recommends that the city transition to a by-district voting system to promote more representative and diverse membership on the municipal council.

That report suggested that citizens of Logan’s less affluent and most diverse neighborhoods have been under-represented on the municipal council since 2009 when the city adopted at-large voting for its city council members.

As López noted, he is the first person of Hispanic origin to ever serve of the Logan City Council, despite the fact that Hispanics make up about 14 percent of the city’s population.

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