By Daniel Shular
The Scene staff
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson had been on the job less than two weeks when he stopped by Forest Park.
He was wrapping up a listening tour across the state at a meeting of the Hispanic Leaders Group of Greater St. Louis.
One attendee asked about his transition from lieutenant governor to governor on June 1, when former Gov. Eric Greitens resigned amid scandals and efforts to impeach him.
“Most people get 60 days to transfer from one position to another,” Parson said. “We had 60 hours. So it was a daunting task.”
Parson later joked that the experience was like “drinking water out of a firehose.”
The Hispanic Leaders Group is a non-profit, non-partisan group that supports the advancement of the Hispanic community through networking, education and advocacy. They also give scholarships to Hispanic students.
Gov. Mike Parson addresses the Hispanic Leaders Group at Forest Park. (Photo by Daniel Shular)The group’s meeting was held June 13 in a Hospitality Studies banquet room at Forest Park. It started with a presentation by Ness Sandoval, associate professor of sociology and anthropology at St. Louis University.
Sandoval shared information on Missouri Latinos, including their projected population growth, the entrepreneurs among them and the tax revenue they generate.
Parson first committed to appearing at the Hispanic Leaders Group meeting when members met with him on March 7 at the state capitol. After he became governor, they weren’t sure if he would still show up.
“Once the resignation happened, I called his office and he said he would keep his commitment,” said Antonio Maldonado, the group’s president. “He’s a man of integrity, a man of his word.”
At Forest Park, the governor talked about the importance of higher education in filling skilled positions in the workplace.
“(College students) walk out of there, some do, with a tremendous amount of debt,” he said. “… You almost start them in a hole where it is very difficult to climb out.”
He later asked, “How do we team up with the private sector to make sure that when they do graduate, they do have a good job that pays good money?”