New Latino Political Group

A group largely consisting of young Latino adults who are determined to both live on the South Fork and participate in the political process have organized a monthly meeting at which they can discuss the issues important to them and their peers.

The first such meeting of the group, dubbed the New Leaders of East Hampton, will be on Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at D’Canela restaurant in Amagansett. The restaurant, which serves Latin and Mexican cuisine, is a popular gathering place for Latino residents of the South Fork, said George Salazar, a member of the group who is also a manager there.

The East Hampton Democrats, with which some members of the group are aligned, “want to get as many people involved with the community — especially immigrants, not necessarily people that were born here — and give them a chance at new opportunities,” Mr. Salazar said.

The South Fork’s Latino community is underrepresented in government, said Mr. Salazar, who was born in Columbia and came to the United States in 1998. “Someone in politics that will speak our language and understand our issues and where we are coming from” would be beneficial to that demographic, he said.

The Latino population on the South Fork is “huge, and I don’t think we’re well represented,” agreed Isabel Saavedra, a 2006 graduate of East Hampton High School who is now an immigration attorney. “I joined because I live here full time now, and would want that to change. Anyone can be on the committee,” she said, “but it’s mostly minorities. We want to get more involved in the community.”

Integration and a greater sense of inclusion would benefit all of the town’s residents, said Franaldo Hanna, who works at CW Arborists in East Hampton. “When I grew up there was more of a community feeling,” he said, “as opposed to it being all about money.” More year-round activities for youth, he said, would also serve the community by discouraging the negative consequences, such as drug use, of “too much downtime.”

Mr. Salazar, Ms. Saavedra, and Mr. Hanna all cited the scarcity of affordable housing on the South Fork, which has forced many young adults to leave their hometown, as the most urgent issue of the day. “Every day, housing is becoming harder and harder to find,” Mr. Salazar said, and is “especially difficult once you have a family.”

“Do we really have to move out of here because it’s not affordable?” Ms. Saavedra asked. “We want to change that concept by having people to represent the people that live here year round.”

All have been invited to attend the meetings, Ms. Saavedra said. “The more people that get involved, the better.”