The Latino community in Nampa is trying to figure out how to move forward after the city canceled a lease of the Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho.
Mayor Debbie Kling and PODER of Idaho, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Community Council of Idaho held a news conference last Friday at Nampa City Hall to talk about the future of the center.
Co-executive director of PODER of Idaho, Ruby Mendez, is supportive of the change and the opportunity to allow the Latino community to come together to revitalize the building.
Mayor Kling said later in the meeting, "It's time to open the doors on that building and let it become the Hispanic Communities building again."
However, Mayor Kling says taking back the building wasn’t what the city wanted.
The rift started years ago when members of the community reached out to the city with concerns about how the center was being maintained. The lease required the organization to disclose maintenance, budgets and host educational programs.
Officials then reached out to the organization’s leaders and the city tried multiple times to reach leadership about the center's operations, with little response.
In December 2022, the city filed a complaint against the organization saying they breached their lease contract by failing to provide proper documentation and community services.
In May, a judge awarded the City possession of the building. The court gave the organization 42 days to argue against the judgment, but it didn't respond. On June 27, the organization was told to vacate.
Humberto Fuentes, Director of the Hispanic Cultural Center, Humberto Fuentes said the takeover surprised him.
On Thursday, the center hosted a rally on the building’s sidewalk because the building was surrounded by yellow police tape. A moving crew was at the back of the building, removing items and placing them into a moving truck.
As people gathered, Fuentes came out to the crowd of around 20 and voiced his frustrations, and said he was going to sue the city.
But at the city’s conference the next day, the founder of the Hispanic Center, Ana Maria Schachtell, talked about the center’s beginnings and that she didn’t like how the current leaders treated the building like private property.
"I am glad that these leaders in the community had the courage to get the building back to the community," she says.
Mayor Kling says even though the city owns the building, it belongs to the Hispanic community, and the scheduled programs will continue as planned.
