Bell Gardens Advised on Better Resident Relations

A consultant has made sweeping recommendations, including mandatory sensitivity training for city workers and translation of council meetings to Spanish, to help city leaders communicate better with residents.

Thomas Calderon, the president of a Fullerton-based firm that was hired by the council earlier this year, told the council Monday that numerous programs should be started and others expanded.

In addition to sensitivity training, in which all city staff would attend seminars to teach them to deal with Latino residents, Calderon suggested that more bilingual staff be hired and that the city look into the construction of more affordable housing.

Calderon was hired after city leaders expressed concern that they were losing touch with the rapidly changing community.

Past attempts to establish contact with the Latino community have had marginal results. City Council members have published their home phone numbers in the community paper but received calls from only a handful of residents. Community events are sparsely attended. Volunteerism in city programs is extremely low.

Issues that appear uncomplicated become hopelessly confusing as Spanish-speaking residents and English-speaking city officials, struggling to make themselves understood, lose patience with each other. At nearly every council meeting in the last year, residents have berated council members, accusing them of not caring about their needs.

In his report, Calderon said that nearly every city in the Southeast area is experiencing similar problems but that Bell Gardens “has the financial resources, and more importantly, the desire, to address these issues.”

Bell Gardens is one of the wealthiest Southeast cities, collecting millions of dollars a year in revenues from the Bicycle Club card casino.

Calderon said city officials must continue to make efforts to make sure residents are aware of what is happening in the community.

“You have a lot of monolingual Spanish people here, and you have a responsibility to communicate with them,” he said.

In addition to translation during the council meetings, he suggested translation of articles in the City Hall newspaper, which is delivered to each home every month, and greater use of Spanish-language media to get the word out about community events.

Bell Gardens’ Latino population has soared in the last two decades.

In 1970, only 38% of the population was Latino, but in the decade that followed, that population grew to 64%. Today, city officials estimate that at least 85% of the population is Latino. The huge influx of Spanish-speaking Latinos of different cultures and different needs has caught the all-Anglo city administration unprepared and unsure what needs to be done to improve relations with residents, city officials have said.

“The whole reason we had this study is because we need to make better contact with the Hispanic community, because that’s what we have here,” said council member Robert Cunningham. “We hope to get them more involved in the community.”

Other recommendations include:

-- Police patrols on foot or bicycle to improve relations between residents and officers.

-- Park rangers to patrol for gangs and drug dealers in the parks.

-- A community events committee to allow residents to plan special events in the city, such as a Cinco de Mayo celebration.

-- A mandatory seminar for residents who want building permits. The seminar would be offered in Spanish and English and would explain the building requirements.

-- A renter/landlord mediation board to referee rental disputes. According to city figures, more than 80% of Bell Gardens residents are renters.

-- Quarterly meetings between city officials and the clergy of local churches to get the word out and to get feedback on issues.

-- A more concentrated effort to hire qualified Latinos to fill vacant department head positions.

Calderon’s suggestions have gotten mixed reactions. Most of the recommendations could easily be applied to other Southeast-area cities, prompting some residents to complain that City Council paid his firm $12,000 to “copy from a textbook.” Some expressed doubt that city officials would do little more than read the report.

Others critics said Calderon failed to discuss the city’s ongoing controversy over a zoning code change that will affect hundreds of homeowners.

“I don’t know where Mr. Calderon got his information, but he didn’t talk to this community,” said resident Josefina Macias.

Calderon said he interviewed clergy, community leaders and city staff.

But others applauded his suggestions that the city hire more bilingual staff, translate the meetings and require sensitivity training sessions for city staff.

City Manager Claude Booker said he agrees with Calderon’s suggestions and has already attended a daylong seminar on sensitivity training. The seminar, given earlier this month by a team of University of Chicago specialists in Anglo-Latino relations, was so helpful, Booker said, that he plans to bring them to the city to conduct a few more seminars.

“They taught us a lot of things I honestly didn’t know,” he said.

Other council members also said that they agreed with Calderon’s recommendations, but said more specific recommendations are necessary, in addition to a cost analysis.