Las Vegas Review-Journal - The Political Eye

Members of the Latin Chamber of Commerce in Las Vegas are upset with U.S. Sen. Dean Heller for canceling a meeting with them this week after he reached out to the Hispanic group.

Heller, R-Nev., refused to go ahead with a roundtable Tuesday night because a staffer for his Senate opponent, U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., was present as well as a camera.

The cancellation happened at the last minute after a Heller staffer warned the senator the chamber refused to ask the Berkley staffer to leave and get rid of the camera. Heller apparently was already on his way to the meeting when his representative arrived ahead of the 5:45 p.m. event to make sure everything was in order.

"It was disrespectful," said Andres Ramirez, a member of the chamber. "Dean Heller had never gone to a single Latin chamber event and so they've been trying to find a way to connect. He wanted to limit the audience, which is understandable. But the Berkley staffer is also a member of the chamber so she shouldn't have to leave."

The Berkley staffer, Judith Fleischman, is a former member of the Latin Chamber's board and remains involved with the group. As a result, Chamber President Otto Merida, refused to ask her to leave.

As for the camera, politicians have become wary of videotaped discussions because opponents, especially in hotly contested races, often later use sound bites against them.

Heller's office said the senator wanted to reach out to Hispanics to discuss issues affecting them, from jobs to housing to health care. Latinos make up 26 percent of Nevada's population now, yet tend to vote Democratic in Nevada. Republicans are working to convince Hispanics the GOP has their interests in mind with unemployment at 13.4 percent here and a couple of points higher for Latinos.

"The office initiated a meeting with the leadership of the Latin Chamber last week because the senator wanted to open a dialogue with the organization starting with their leadership," said Stewart Bybee, a spokesman for Heller. "This was a good faith effort by the senator."

"When our staff arrived at the meeting, Congresswoman Berkley's staffer was there and so was an individual with a video camera," he added. "Since Senator Heller initiated this meeting with the Latin Chamber Board, we asked that the staffer and the camera be removed. They said no, so the senator decided not to attend the meeting."