Two actions by the Marin County Board of Supervisors meeting on March 2 will be designed to enhance County of Marin public outreach efforts in Spanish.
First, the Board will enter into a six-month pilot project with NTT Communications to provide Spanish translation services during Board of Supervisors meetings.
Second, the Board approved an 18-month public information position to improve delivery of Spanish-language materials and serve as a liaison in the community. The fixed-term role on the Board’s Consent Calendar will help backfill urgent communication needs created by the County’s ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency response.
The Hispanic community accounts for 16% of Marin’s population, and approximately 12% of Marin’s population aged five years or older (nearly 30,000 people) speaks Spanish. It is the most common language spoken in the county after English, and the Latinx population in Marin and elsewhere has suffered disproportionately throughout the pandemic emergency.
NTT, which has been contracted to manage technical aspects of the County’s online Board meetings during the pandemic, will provide professional Spanish interpretation services for public comments and provide a Spanish language audio stream for all meeting content. After six months, the County will evaluate its effect on public engagement.
Board President Dennis Rodoni represents residents in District 4, which includes several areas where Spanish is widely spoken. Those include the Canal neighborhood of eastern San Rafael and in the villages of West Marin, especially in the agricultural community. Nationwide, people of color have been hit especially hard by the pandemic. Although Marin’s COVID-19 response can point to successes in equitable distribution of urgent services, many Spanish-speaking residents – especially newer immigrants – have been concerned about dealing with government agencies.
Reflecting the sentiments of the Board and the rest of the County workforce, Rodoni said enhanced Spanish-language outreach will address the desire to calm nerves, foster trust, and include more voices in decision-making, especially from underrepresented populations.
“We encourage participation by our county residents in our civic process,” Rodoni said. “We are gaining momentum in shifting how we do business and with our recent equity efforts to make this a more welcoming community. Enhancing our Spanish-language communication is part of our ongoing effort to be more transparent and equitable with how we deliver services to our community.”
The new public information position would help address increasing needs for engagement with Spanish-speaking residents consistent with the County’s commitment to equity. A bilingual communicator would be assigned to write and translate news releases, answer media inquiries from and speak on behalf of the County to Spanish-language media, provide event translation, and increase outreach to Spanish-speaking residents.
Assistant County Administrator Dan Eilerman said the Board’s actions would be a milestone for the County’s communications team.
“We believe inclusion is a key ingredient in making local government successful and accessible in providing important services,” he said. “It’s also a reflection of our changing demographics and our goal to be welcoming to all populations. By making Spanish-language materials more available and prominent, we hope to further build trust and receive public input as policies are implemented and our elected officials make decisions.”
To learn more about the County’s commitment to equity, see the Office of Equity webpage and Human Resource’s Diversity and Inclusion webpage. Every County webpage can be translated into several languages by choosing the “select language” tool at the top of the page.
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