Thousands of Dominicans live in Newark, and have celebrated their pride with 13 annual flag-raising celebrations. But no Dominican has been elected to the City Council. Watch video
NEWARK -- Thousands of Dominicans call Newark home, and on Monday night leaders of the Dominican community raised the Caribbean nation's red, white and blue flag in front of City Hall while singing the Himno Nacional Domincano, or Dominican National Anthem.
It was the city's 13th Dominican flag raising, and will be followed on Sunday by a Noon parade up Broad Street to kick off a Dominican festival where the Merengue and Bachata will last til 10 p.m. The parade will run from Broadway to Lake Street, with performers including Giselle Tavera and Joe Veras.
"The Dominican Community is a growing and important community in the city of Newark," Mayor Ras Baraka told several dozen Dominican constituents gathered in the City Hall rotunda before the flag raising out front. "They are part of the broader community of the City of Newark."
But while one estimate puts Newark's Dominican population at 8,700 -- a figure some dismissed as too low -- officials and community leaders say there has never been a Dominican-American elected to the Newark City Council. In May, the city lost its only elected official of Dominican descent when Ariagna Perello stepped down from the Newark Advisory Board of Education, after failing to seek another term.
There are Dominicans in the Baraka Administration, including the chief municipal court judge, Victoria Platt, and Assistant Corporation Counsel Emilia Perez, who attended the flag raising.
"I'm very proud to see my flag go up in the city of Newark," Perez said.
Officials and community leaders cite a number of factors in the lack of Dominicans elected to office, including the relatively recent arrival of the community, many of whom are not yet citizens, some undocumented.
By contrast, Newark's larger and more established Puerto Rican community -- the sixth largest in the United States, with 35,993 Newark residents, according to the 2010 Census -- includes three city councilmen, Luis Quintana, Anibal Ramos and Carlos Gonzalez.
Dominicans make up 3.1 percent of Newark's population, according to City-Data.com. That equates to roughly 8,700 Dominican Newarkers if using the Census Bureau's 2015 estimated Newark population of about 281,000.
It isn't electoral clout that determines what countries or communities get to hold City Hall flag raisings, Baraka said. Rather, almost any community that can organize such an event and apply for a permit can hold one, Baraka said.
About 15 countries or communities, including the LGBTO, with its rainblow flag, have held flag raisings in recent years, Baraka said. IN addition to the Dominican Republic, countries that regularly seek permission and hold flag raisings include Peru, Ecuador, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Guyana and Haiti.
Some say Newark's Dominican-American electoral landscape is bound to change, as more Dominicans move into the city, become U.S. citizens, or simply grow to voting age.
"They're having kids here, and their kids are going to vote," said Jacqueline Quiles, Baraka's deputy mayor for community engagement, who is from Puerto Rico. "And they could change the political situation."
Hillary Severino, 16, a native of San Pedro de Macoris on the Dominican Republic's southern coast, is a naturalized citizen who is now two years away from casting her first ballot as a Dominican-American voter.
Severino attended Monday's flag raising wearing the tiara and sash she received in September, when she won the local Miss Dominica contest, and as such she will be featured in Sunday's parade. But while Severarino is an ambitious young woman who eventually plans to attend medical school, ethnic politics is not something she thinks much about, at least not yet.
"Right now I'm focused on school," said the Central High School junior. "I want to go to college, I want to be a professional model, I want to be an OBGYN. Maybe when I get to voting age I'll start to think about that."
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.