Sixth District Councilman Dee Andrews, in conjunction with Ninth District Councilman Steven Neal, introduced a city council agenda item on Tuesday, Nov. 1 to create a policy to provide equal access to all Long Beach residents.
According to a press release issued by Andrews’s office, many residents who want to be involved in Long Beach city government and city services are prevented from doing so because of their limited proficiency of the English language.
The press release states that, according to a report by USA Today, Long Beach is the most ethnically diverse city in the nation. “Access to city government and services [is] key for the continued growth of our city, and the language barrier is stunting our growth,” said Andrews. “It is very important that all the residents that make up Long Beach are equally invited, involved, and educated about our city’s practices, especially vital services such as public safety, health, and general welfare.”
To ensure that Limited English Proficiency (LEP) residents have equal access, the item suggests that a policy be created so that all city departments, board meetings, commission meetings, city council meetings and city-organized/hosted community meetings be accessible to LEP persons through the use of interpreters. Moreover, vital City documents would be translated into the primary languages spoken by Long Beach residents and the City’s website would be available in languages other than English. In order to create a comprehensive policy to address these and other language access issues for LEP residents in Long Beach, the City must create and adopt a city-wide Language Access Policy for LEP Persons, in conjunction with community groups with expertise in this area, according to Andrews’s press release.
“Everyone deserves the right to have equal access to his/her government,” said Neal. “Each person has something of value to offer, and it would be a shame to miss great opportunities because of language barriers.”
“Language access is the number-one barrier to the success of immigrant integration for the residents of Long Beach,” said Sara Pol-Lim, executive director of United Cambodian Community. “The policy will lead to the improvement of economic development, civic engagement and better quality of life.”
The item requests that the city manager work with the city attorney and community partners with expertise in this area, including the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition, Housing Long Beach, Centro C.H.A. and United Cambodian Community, to draft a city-wide Language Access Policy with consistent city-wide standards, and report back to the City Council within 90 days.
For information call the Office of Councilman Dee Andrews at (562) 570-6816.
