Most of council favors Spanish translation of proceedings

Shorett is among those opposing, saying, ‘We need to speak English’

Though a majority of the San Bernardino City Council signaled its support for providing Spanish-language interpretation services at its future meetings, Councilman Fred Shorett said Wednesday he could not endorse such efforts because “we need to speak English.”

Speaking during the council meeting, Shorett said he is “not supportive of any of this stuff” in response to a proposal to offer translation services at future in-person and televised council meetings.

“I’m of the old school that this is an English-speaking country,” Shorett said, “and with all due respect to the Hispanic community, of which I feel a part of and I support and I admire, I just think that we need to speak English, and there are other means for people that don’t speak English to get the information.”

In the coming weeks, city staffers will assess the cost and feasibility of adding English captions and Spanish voice-overs to the live feed of council meetings and installing at least one television outside the Council chambers with those same services.

Council members Theodore Sanchez, Sandra Ibarra, Kimberly Calvin and Damon Alexander favored the move.

Shorett and Council members Juan Figueroa and Ben Reynoso opposed.

Though Reynoso objected to limiting translation services to Spanish, Figueroa gave no reason for his vote against the plan.

At the council’s behest, City Clerk Genoveva Rocha on Wednesday presented options to provide interpretation services in Spanish, Vietnamese and American Sign Language at council meetings.

“Providing interpretation services,” Rocha wrote in a staff report, “would ensure language equity and access and provide additional opportunities to share the city’s message and conduct the business of the city in an open and inclusive manner.”

Shorett, whose 4th Ward has the lowest percentage of Latino residents of the city’s seven wards, according to demographic data compiled by Esri, sought a precedent at the state or federal level for providing such services.

Certain cities offer translation, generally upon request, Rocha said.

Ibarra, whose 2nd Ward is 74% Latino, was happy to see the item come before city leaders.

“We do have a population that wants to get involved in local politics,” she said, “and unfortunately they have not learned the language.”

In lieu of staff’s recommendation that Spanish interpretation services be provided simultaneously during virtual meetings and, ultimately, in-person meetings, a majority of elected officials asked staffers to return with cost estimates for English captions and Spanish voice-overs, as well as at least one television for outside the Council Chambers with those same services.

Vietnamese and American Sign Language translation services will not be pursued at this time.

In 2010, 60% of San Bernardino residents identified as Latino, according to census data.

In 2020, Esri estimated that 66% of residents identified as such.

Rocha noted in her staff report that 15% of San Bernardino residents are registered to vote in Spanish.