Middle-class Hispanics help spur Pasco's rapid growth

It's a sweltering evening and more than 50 people crowd outside the new cardiology office for a ribbon cutting.

They're doctors, bankers, insurance agents and advertising executives, and they came to Pasco County from all over Latin America. They're the new Hispanic face of Pasco County: professional, middle-class and suburban.

No county in the Tampa Bay area grew faster in the last decade than Pasco County, and 29 percent of the county's new residents are Hispanic. The county's Hispanic population now exceeds 54,500, and it's no longer concentrated just in the Mexican-American farm worker communities near Dade City.

Pasco's Puerto Rican population more than tripled since the 2000 census, mirroring a trend that saw a huge influx of Puerto Ricans along the Interstate 4 corridor. The same is true for residents from Central and South America. The county gained nearly as many Cubans as it did Mexicans in the last decade.

The U.S. 19 corridor is more than 10 percent Hispanic. Some neighborhoods in Lutz have reached concentrations as high as those in Tommytown. But for sheer numbers, no community has seen a greater influx of Hispanic people than Wesley Chapel.

"Here you find a lot of Puerto Ricans, Venezuelans and Costa Ricans," said Rosie Paulsen, who owns an insurance agency in Wesley Chapel. Last year Paulsen founded the Pasco Hernando Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and has seen its membership grow from a handful to more than 120 members.

"The majority of the people are professionals," she said. "Some of them own their own businesses, or they commute to Tampa for work."

They were drawn to neighborhoods like Meadow Pointe, Seven Oaks and Saddlebrook, just like their Anglo neighbors, for the suburban lifestyle.

"I wanted a better environment to raise my kids," Scarleth Leon said. "I wanted to be in a neighborhood where they could ride their bikes. And all the schools are A-grade schools."

Leon, an advertising executive, originally moved to Fort Lauderdale from her native Venezuela. But she decided it wasn't a good fit, and relocated to Wesley Chapel four years ago.

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Pasco County has its own Spanish newspaper, the monthly Gaceta Latina. Publisher Maria Barros launched the paper in 2008 and has seen its distribution grow from 3,000 to 10,000 per issue.

Her success has prompted Media General's Spanish weekly, Centro, to re-examine the Pasco market after a four-year absence. Media General also is the parent company of The Tampa Tribune.

"We will be back in Pasco County again, if not this year then by January," said Orlando Nieves, general manager of Centro. "The key isn't just the numbers – it's the growth."

More area churches are offering services in Spanish. And Paulsen said more and more local businesses are trying to appeal to a new, diverse customer base. "If you're not targeting the Hispanic community in your business, you're losing money," she said.

In the next year, she hopes to cut a ribbon for a Spanish supermarket so she and her friends won't have to drive to Tampa to find groceries imported from their home countries.

"There will be a Spanish store," she said. "That would be a no-brainer."

Leon said she drives to Tampa's Armenia Avenue to buy groceries and eat out. "There's nowhere in Wesley Chapel to get empanadas," she said.

Until now. Last week a couple from the Dominican Republic opened the Latin Twist Café on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. The menu features roast pork, arroz con pollo, café con leche and empanadas.

County officials have been slow to recognize the growth and special needs of a large population who are not native English speakers. Assistant County Administrator Michele Baker noted that a county employee translated the county's annual citizen survey into Spanish this year, but it never occurred to anyone to post the Spanish survey online.

She said she thought the county's Hispanic population was closer to 5 percent, but that figure represents the voting age population. The actual Hispanic population is almost 12 percent.

"I was not aware of those numbers," Baker said. "I think in the future we will be providing more printed materials in English and Spanish."

The U.S. Justice Department could order Pasco County to begin printing all of its election-related materials in English and Spanish.

"It's not just ballots," Elections Supervisor Brian Corley said. "We're talking about signs, registration materials and all election publications."

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Because Puerto Ricans are citizens with full voting rights, they could gain political influence in the county, Corley said. "It's a sizable population. If they register to vote and they come back to vote, they could be a force to be reckoned with," Corley said. "Remember, in 2010 less than half the county's registered voters went to the polls."

Now that one in nine Pasco residents is Hispanic, and they are looking for ways to flex their political muscle. Julia Hassler, founder of Club Politico, said she recently invited 400 Hispanic Republicans and independent voters to the club's next meeting in the Starkey Ranch area. Sheriff Chris Nocco is the speaker.

"I was born in Peru," she said. "Over there, elections are mandatory and you're fined if you don't vote. They won't let you cash a check until you pay the fine. You're accustomed to participating as a civic duty."

Margarita Romo, who founded Farmworkers Self-Help in Dade City, long has been the voice for the county's Mexican immigrant population. She said the county's new, more affluent Hispanic residents should push for better representation. "The Hispanic population has a lot of capacity that we're not using," she said. "We are the fastest growing population, but how much power can we have if we don't vote?"

There are no Hispanics in countywide elected positions. And Pasco County government doesn't have a Hispanic Affairs office. Baker said she doesn't see the need for a special liaison to help Spanish speakers. "Our goal is to serve all citizens equally, so we think having someone designated as a Hispanic Affairs liaison would treat them separately," she said.

Tony Morejon, Hillsborough County's Hispanic Affairs Liaison, said that's the wrong approach. "Pasco is going through what we went through 20 years ago," he said.

Morejon helps Spanish speakers in Hillsborough County resolve issues with code enforcement, property appraisals and law enforcement, to name a few. There are language barriers and cultural divides that make it difficult for many Hispanics to access public services. Many of them emigrated from countries where police and government officials are corrupt, he said.

"I go to people's houses because they're afraid to go downtown," he said. "These people pay taxes, too, and you don't want them to be disenfranchised," he said.

lkinsler@tampatrib.com

(813) 259-8109