Diaz Sr. urges Espaillat to ignore Skelos (UPDATE)

Outspoken state Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. sent a letter to his fellow Democrat, state Senator Adriano Espaillat, asking him to not attend a Hispanic legislative conference that GOP Majority Leader Dean Skelos is planning.

Diaz asks that Espaillat--who chairs the Senate's Puerto Rican/Latino Caucus--and the rest of the Hispanic community boycott the conference to show Skelos they do not approve of the way he voted on the budget.

Here's a little snippet of the letter. Jump below for the full letter, as well as Espaillat's response.

I believe that many will agree with me that this event has been whipped up by Senator Dean Skelos to win the affection of Hispanic New Yorkers and is insulting  and  disrespectful  to  the  New  York State Puerto Rican/Latino Caucus and to New York’s Hispanic community.

(UPDATE) Also below is a statement from fellow Bronx state Senator Gustavo Rivera, who will not be attending the conference.

The full letter, from Diaz to Espaillat:

This memo is in response to Senator Dean Skelos’ invitation to attend the Unidad Latina Legislative Conference this Friday, October 21st at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday October 22nd at 9:00 a.m. in the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in Manhattan, that he will hold with the Hispanic Federation. I urge you NOT to attend this event and instead urge our communities and our leaders to boycott this conference.

As Senate Majority Leader, Senator Dean Skelos agreed with and voted for Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Budget cuts with a complete disregard to how those cuts have hurt and will continue to hurt New York’s Hispanic communities.

Senator Dean Skelos continues to boast that New York State has reduced spending although the Budget cuts that he push through the Senate, have seriously hurt our senior citizen programs, health care, education and general services that so many of our Hispanic constituents need.

As we all know the Hispanic Federation is one if not the best organization with a proven track record  in  working  in  the  best  interest of our community.  Their integrity and commitment is well known to all of us.

I think you will agree with me that Senator Dean Skelos is trying to take advantage of the Hispanic Federation to convince Hispanic New Yorkers that he actually cares about our communities by organizing this upcoming event.

I believe that many will agree with me that this event has been whipped up by Senator Dean Skelos to win the affection of Hispanic New Yorkers and is insulting  and  disrespectful  to  the  New  York State Puerto Rican/Latino Caucus and to New York’s Hispanic community.

Here is Espaillat's response, via his spokesperson Ibrahim Khan: “Conferences can be a good platform for discussion. But if Senate Republicans are serious about addressing the issues affecting Latinos, they should join us in standing up for a millionaire’s tax that allows the wealthiest New Yorkers to pay their fair share and helps fund important services like education, housing, and healthcare that are so crucial to our communities.”

And here is the Senate GOP's response, via Times Union's political blog, Capitol Confidential:

Senate GOP spokeswoman Kelly Cummings:

It is sad and unfortunate that Senator Diaz wants to politicize this event that is being organized to bring people together. Unidad means united, and people from a dozen Hispanic organizations will come together at this conference, along with a bipartisan group of state legislators, to discuss the needs, challenges and aspirations of the growing Hispanic community in New York and what can be done to increase their economic opportunities.

In addition to the Hispanic Federation, the hispanic organizations participating in the Unidad Latina Conference include Adelante of Suffolk County, Alianza Dominicana, the Brooklyn Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Circulo de la Hispanidad, the Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, the Community Association of Progressive Dominicans, the Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre, the Institute for the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Elderly, the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the New York City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the New York State Federation of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.

Update: Here is Rivera's statement, via State of the Politics:

I will not be attending the conference. If the majority leader and the Senate Republicans were serious about addressing the issues affecting Latinos, they would have asked their Latino counterparts in the Senate to help them organize a conference that reflects the issues that are impacting Latinos throughout the state such as immigrants’ rights issues as well as the need to extend the millionaire’s tax so that New York State is able to continue funding important services like education, housing, and healthcare that are so critical to our communities.

Benjamin adds on SOTP that a Rivera staffer said he decided last week, before Diaz's letter was released. She also expects more legislators to announce they will not be attending the conference, seeing as the relationship between the left and the right is about as strained as can be.