Fiestas Patrias gets go-ahead from Aurora council
Aurora aldermen effectively said “Let’s get this party started,” Tuesday night with a unanimous vote to allow Fiestas Patrias to take place Sept. 16-18 in the North River Street parking lot.
After two weeks of debate centering on how festival organizers will use funds raised at the event, the city council sided with about a dozen speakers, many of whom said the celebration of Mexican independence benefits Aurora.
“We need Fiestas Patrias to happen for us to do what we do best, which is provide free community events,” said Diana Torres, chairwoman of the Aurora Hispanic Heritage Advisory Board.
Fiestas Patrias is being planned by the Aurora Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which faced questions from Alderman Juany Garza about how much of the festival’s proceeds would go to scholarships for local students.
After meeting with the chamber’s president, Rene Cruz, Garza said she was satisfied with his assurances that festival funds will support higher education for Aurora-area students.
“I’m not against Fiestas Patrias. The only thing we ask is transparency,” Garza said. “Taxpayers have the right to ask what they do with the money.”
After last year’s Fiestas Patrias, a two-day event, the chamber donated $15,500 to several organizations that provide scholarships, said Hortencia Ramirez, a member of the chamber’s board of directors.
Speakers in support of the festival ranged from the owner of an Aurora taco shop, to an Elgin resident excited for the chance to celebrate his Mexican heritage in Aurora, to a white woman who volunteers on the Hispanic Heritage Advisory Board because she believes diversity is empowering.
No one spoke in opposition to the festival.
A representative of Rasmussen College, one of the event’s sponsors last year, chimed in as well, saying Fiestas Patrias offered 15 students the chance to learn by matching their field of study with a volunteer position, like criminal justice majors helping with security.
“To take that away in 2011 for those students ... would be a shame,” said Ed Miranda, professional education manager for Rasmussen College.
Fiestas Patrias now has permission to take place without any city subsidy or donation, Mayor Tom Weisner said.
“Motion carries. The resolution is approved,” he said during the meeting. “And the event will take place.”