Oral history interview with Sergio L. De León, 2003 | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Sergio L. De León begins with his push for a bilingual campaign to stop illegal trash dumping in Tarrant County when he was a Tarrant County Constable. He provides his family's background and details of his childhood with a brief reference to the race discrimination he faced in Arkansas. He touches on his first political election win in 1990 to the Democratic Central Committee representing Union, Arkansas as a Township Committee Person. He covers his education and the time he took off to work for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign, noting particularly his work with the Democratic National committee in 1993. He talks about his return to Fort Worth, his work for Fort Worth City Councilman David F. Chappell prior to his unsuccessful attempt at election as Tarrant County Constable in 1996 against incumbent Jim Palmer, and his election as a delegate to the 1996 Democratic National Convention. He discusses his failed effort to be elected as a State Representative in 1998 against incumbent Sue Palmer and speaks briefly about the Alamo Heights Neighborhood Association and Citizens on Patrol (COP). He explains his participation in the Student Action Review Team and the changes he brought about in the policy to combat the problem of truancy. He refers to the assistance given to him by his political cohorts, Mario Pérez, Luke Ellis, and Joseph W. Bleeker and describes the neighborhoods included in his precinct since redistricting has taken place . He talks about his 1985 visit to then Governor Bill Clinton's office as the spark that ignited his fire for politics and mentions prominent Mexican American Henry Cisneros. De León discusses his campaign finances and strategies and assails Mexican American neighborhood leadership in Tarrant County for failing to seek local public office