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Oakland Plan to Serve Non-English Speakers Oakland Considers Hiring More Bilingual Employees City documents would be translated Janine DeFao, Chronicle Staff Writer |
Wednesday, April 4, 2001
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Oakland -- Saying that Oakland's city services have failed to keep up with its increasingly diverse population, two city councilmen yesterday proposed to hire more bilingual staff and translate key documents into at least two foreign languages. "Historically, this city has made a real effort to be inclusive of African Americans," said Councilman Danny Wan. "We need to broaden that civil rights perspective to other ethnicities." Census figures released last week showed that Oakland's Hispanic and Asian populations grew substantially during the past decade, while the percentages of African Americans and whites fell. Many cities offer bilingual services to residents under state and federal laws, but Oakland officials believe their city would be the first in California to mandate bilingual hiring and translation services by local law. Wan, an immigrant from Taiwan, is pushing the "equal access" ordinance with City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, an immigrant from Mexico. The proposal was heard yesterday in the City Council's community and economic development committee, where it is expected to receive approval next Tuesday. If approved by the full council on April 24, the ordinance would require the city of Oakland to fill vacant "public contact" positions -- from police and fire departments to recreation and senior centers -- with employees who are bilingual in Spanish or Chinese. Materials ranging from complaint forms to brochures on city programs would be translated. Additional languages, such as Vietnamese, would be added once their populations reach 10,000 Oakland residents. A similar ordinance was introduced last month by San Francisco Supervisor Mark Leno but it has not yet been considered by the supervisors. Another such attempt did not get off the ground in 1999. Such laws are not prohibited under Proposition 209 -- which banned the use of race in hiring and college admissions when it was passed by voters in 1996 - - because they focus on hiring people who are bilingual, not of a particular race. In Oakland, both Asians and Hispanics are underrepresented in city government. According to census and city data, Hispanics now make up 22 percent of the city's residents but accounted for only 11 percent of the city's 3,500 employees in 1999, the last year for which figures were available. Asians compose 15 percent of the city's population but only 8 percent of city employees. De La Fuente and Wan said the lack of representation in city government has led to an inability to provide services for residents who do not speak English. Three times since he joined the council last fall, Wan said, he has been called by City Hall security to give directions to Chinese-speaking residents. And none of the city's four senior centers provides any information in Chinese, despite the large elderly population in Oakland's Chinatown, he said. "We need to reflect the composition of our city. All those people pay taxes like everybody else" and deserve equal access to city services, De La Fuente said. Several community groups that work with immigrants spoke in favor of the plan. De La Fuente said city staff has been dragging its feet for years in recruiting and hiring Hispanics and Asians. But City Manager Robert Bobb said yesterday that he "wholeheartedly supports" the proposal. "This is a human rights issue, a civil rights issue and it's the right thing to do." De La Fuente and Wan played down the costs, saying that positions would be filled with bilingual hires only as they become vacant. Translation services either would be contracted out, or a translation department would be established in-house. A contract to translate 190 documents into Spanish and Chinese would cost an estimated $228,000, with the cost increasing to $361,000 if a third language is added. E-mail Janine DeFao at jdefao@sfchronicle.com. |
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