Almost 100 people - including a handful of state lawmakers and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon - gathered at the Salt Lake City Main Library Auditorium on Monday night for a town hall meeting organized by the state Office of Ethnic Affairs.

The 90-minute meeting started with introduction of the office's three newly appointed ethnic affairs directors, an overview of the office's new structure and closed with an hourlong discussion on what community members hope the state agency can do for minorities. The meeting is one of several across the state this month organized by the office.

Kuang Lee, former chairman of the state's Asian Advisory Council, said that in the 22 years he has lived here, there has never been a strong effort to organize the minority communities to work together on issues. That time has come, and minority community leaders need to come up with a strategy to get issues taken care of around Utah, he said.

"We [have been] ignored for a long, long time," he told the crowd. "We pay taxes. We want to see the money come back to our community."

Lee, an engineer, said he hopes leaders can raise money for development in minority neighborhoods, including funding ethnic senior and health centers.

Minorities make up 11 percent of Utah's population, according to the 2000 U.S. census. In Salt Lake City, minorities are 21 percent of the population, according to the census.

Yvette Donosso Diaz, the director of the state Department of Community and Culture, oversees the ethnic office. She said the office's purpose is to educate the community on state issues and inform the governor, state lawmakers and state agencies about minority concerns.

She said she hopes the office can encourage more minority residents to get involved in the political process to create the changes they want.

"We can't do everything for you," she told audience members. "We need you."

Diaz, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. earlier this year, said the office will move away from helping individuals and work with state agencies to make changes to help the entire community.

She said the ethnic directors, with input from residents, are working together to develop a plan, which she hopes will make the office more accountable to the community.

During the meeting, a woman questioned whether Diaz and the directors were working for the interest of the community or the governor, saying the Huntsman administration didn't seem to value the minority community.

Most people offered ideas the office might consider.

Manuel Romero, a foster-family recruiter, suggested that the office organize a social-services conference.

There, he said, residents could get information about where they can get help and state leaders could see where they might have gaps in their services, such as not having enough staff members who are culturally sensitive to certain groups.

"Our community suffers because there's no one there to speak their language or understand the issues,” he said.

Sarit Rimal, a former Utah small-business owner, said the office also should make an effort to help small, minority businesses, especially with getting state money for low-interest loans.

Many minority businesses need more money to expand, and in turn, more jobs will be created, he said.

"You will benefit from our success," Rimal said.

jsanchez@sltrib.com