Bedrosian Center signs MOU with League of California Cities Latino Caucus

USC Price Dean Jack Knott signs the agreement with Latino Caucus President Diane Martinez as Raphael Bostic, far left, and Frank Zerunyan look on. (USC Photo/David Giannamore)

Originally published on the USC Price Website June 13, 2014
From Price staff reports

The USC Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Public Enterprise – housed at the Price School of Public Policy – on June 12 signed a memorandum of understanding with the League of California Cities Latino Caucus to establish an executive education program in public policy and administration.

The program will feature policy workshops that provide elected and appointed leaders from the Latino Caucus with focused, intensive training on a range of pressing issues that local governments face. The goal is to build capacity and enhance the leadership of public officials, enabling them to make vital policy decisions that will best serve the needs of their constituents.

“The USC Price School and Bedrosian Center are pleased to take a leadership role in improving local governance and decision-making,” said Professor Raphael Bostic, director of the Bedrosian Center. “With programs like this forum, we are able to get the right information to leaders in a format that best serves their needs.”

This new MOU deepens USC Price’s impact in leadership training, building on the recent success of the Los Angeles County Executive Leadership Development Program, as well as the Bedrosian Center’s Local Leaders Program. Led by Professor Frank Zerunyan, the Local Leaders Program has trained more than 100 mayors, council members, special district board members, city managers and city staff from across southern California.

“We at USC Price are delighted to be a resource to my friends and colleagues in the Latino Caucus,” Zerunyan said. “There is no question that our respective missions align in educating local leaders to serve and to make their communities better places for all.”

Established in 1990, the Latino Caucus is a nonprofit official affiliate of the League of California Cities. It is dedicated to improving quality of life through advocacy by addressing professional, socioeconomic, educational, cultural and political issues. The caucus promotes advancement opportunities and encourages civic engagement among the Latino community.

Latino Caucus President and Paramount Mayor Diane Martinez took part in the MOU signing ceremony, along with Carson Council Member Karen Avilla, Long Beach Council Member-Elect Roberto Uranga and Bonnie Garcia of Garcia, Hernández, Sawhney & Bermudez LLP.

In her remarks, Martinez noted that, “there is no better collaborator in this endeavor than USC Price.”

She added, “It’s a very exciting threshold moment for all of us. Not only are we implementing our goals, but we are creating something that will be of enormous value to both our Caucus members and the residents we serve.”