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COUNCIL MINUTES July 26, 2010 APPROVED 271 the world now and he sees people demanding change to their ways but that is wrong. This is America ,72 and its people have died on the battlefield to keep it this way. 273 274 Brianna Trovel, (spoke in Spanish for a while). She has lived her entire life in Minnesota. Her great 275 great-grandfather was an illegal immigrant from Sweden. She spoke some in Spanish to show how 276 difficult it is from the other side of this issue. She has worked in a Somali health clinic where three 277 quarters of the people don't speak English. Many of the people have never been to school so they 278 have never learned to read or write in their first language. These are people who are here with us and 279 are our neighbors from Anoka to Ramsey to Hennepin County—all over. In her neighborhood, on her 280 block, there is a woman who doesn't speak English because she speaks Spanish and another who 281 speaks Pilipino. These people are pleasant and kind and don't' they have the right to know what's 282 going on in their government? They don't know many of the basics but they might need to use a 283 government form and,just because they haven't been gifted with an education, should they not have 284 access to what they need? Please oppose the resolution. 285 286 Carl Elmquist, Otter Lake. He is 62 years old and his grandparents came from Sweden and he 287 remembers the stories they would tell about the difficulty of learning English. They did it though and 288 they made sure it was used in their homes. He has seen the country go down the drain in his time. He 289 noted that all pilots are required to learn the English language. He goes to restaurants and hears 290 families speaking languages other than English and there doesn't seem to be any teaching of English 291 to the youngsters. He hopes the City of Lino Lakes doesn't go that way and he urges the council to 292 support the resolution. '93 94 Caitlin Andreasen, 6344 Red Hawk Trail, Lino Lakes, and currently a student at the College of St. 295 Benedict. She asked the council to envision being in a different country where they themselves 296 don't speak a word of the language. She experienced that in Spain as a student. She worked hard to 297 learn the language but it was incredibly hard and exhausting. She knows it is the same way for some 298 in this country and she knows that they are trying very hard to learn. As a community she doesn't 299 want Lino Lakes to close the door to those who don't have English skills. they still have the right to 300 know what the government is doing. She is proud of being a Lino Lakes citizen and when she is done 301 with her education she'd like to return and raise her family here. She is a part of the future of the city 302 and she is telling the council that the community must remain open and welcoming or it is not the 303 place for her. She urges the council to keep the doors open for all to enjoy the beauty of Lino Lakes. 304 305 Ivan Kozhokar, originally from Moldavia where Romanian is spoken. He is thankful for the country 306 and the opportunities he's had. He has had the opportunity through schooling to learn the English 307 language. He supports keeping English as the first language in America. 308 309 Eileen Couture, 6973 Lakeview Drive, Lino Lakes, since 1983. She is representing the Joint 310 Legislative Coalition as a member of the Justice and Charity Commission at St. Joseph's Church in 311 Lino Lakes. This organization that is made up of Catholic, Lutheran, Jewish, Muslim and other 312 religions, is working to get equality and unity within the people of this country and state. She thinks 313 that this attempt to balance the city budget by cutting costs on something like this is discriminatory 314 and is against the work she sees done in the name of justice. She works in health care and knows how 315 important it is to provide communications clearly. She is also an election judge for the city and that 7