Retired Union Leader Appointed To State Commission on Aging

Spectrum staff

Henry “Hank” Lacayo, president of the Congress of California Seniors, has been appointed to the California Commission on Aging by Gov. Gray Davis, the governor announced last week.

Lacayo, 71, of Newbury Park, is a former labor union leader who began his career in 1953 as a United Auto Workers representative. He rose to president of that union’s Local 887, representing more than 30,000 aviation industry workers in Los Angeles.

Lacayo is a former vice president of the California Federation of Labor and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

As head of the politically liberal Congress of California Seniors, Lacayo recently has helped the organization lobby for tax increases to protect Medi-Cal and other senior-related government programs from budget cuts.

The all-volunteer Commission on Aging is comprised of 19 members appointed by the governor, three appointed by the Assembly speaker and three appointed by the Senate president. There currently are two vacancies to be filled by the governor.

The commission, chaired by Nancy Dolton of Pacific Grove, advises the governor and Legislature on senior-related issues, and sponsors activities of the California Senior Legislature and the Triple-A Council of California, which oversees the state’s 33 Area Agencies on Aging.