When Fire Chief Frank Tidwell told the City Council last Monday that part of a federal grant would go toward Spanish lessons for firefighters, it reminded me of a survey taken in 2008 of Spanish-speaking staff in city offices.
You can read Plaintalker's entire post here. The conclusion at the time was that the city was short on bilingual staff, considering the high proportion of Spanish-speaking residents. Of course, since then the results of the 2010 Census have confirmed a large increase of Latino population in Plainfield, from 25.2 percent in 2000 to 40.4 percent in 2010.
Assimilation is taking place, but there are still many residents who have not learned English, and especially in fires or other public safety situations, basic communication is paramount.
In a related matter, it is unfortunate that the Plainfield Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs apparently disbanded or fell apart. The governing body approved legislation establishing the commission in 2005, but no members were appointed until June 2010. Nothing much has been heard from the commission since then and a council liaison reported being unable to get a meeting schedule for the commission.
I believe I heard Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs mention reactivating the commission when she gave her 2013 State of the City address in January, but so far no appointments have been proposed.
Certainly Plainfield can go along with parallel communities in its borders, each going its own way. But how much better would it be to find common ground, engage newcomers in civic affairs and share responsibility for what kind of city we have? Communication in crises is just a rudimentary step.
--Bernice
I am currently unemployed and looking for a job but this subject goes toward the heart of what i believe...I believe that cool, while are many free ESL (English as 2nd language) classes and offerings locally,there should be just as many free SSL (Spanish as 2nd language) offerings as well. Today's marketplace and just being a global community demands it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, just like in days past when we had to go out of our way to learn Italian, German,Yiddish, French, Chinese and true Spanish (the Spanish being spoken by most of the immigrants in question in this country idiomatic of Central America) so that government services would run smoothly.
ReplyDeleteLike it or not, we are a primarily English speaking country, and all new arrivals who wanted to become a part of us and thrive, learned English!
It is up to the new comers to learn the language of the country they moved to, not vice versa!