Laserfiche WebLink
COUNCIL MINUTES July 26, 2010 <br /> APPROVED <br /> 316 process includes some forms in other languages. That should be continued. She likes seeing"wash <br /> 17 your hands" in more than English! She would like the city to be more inclusive because it builds a <br /> 318 better world. <br /> 319 <br /> 320 Julie Smith, 6398 West Shadow Lake Drive, Lino Lakes, for about 11 years. As a citizen of this <br /> 321 community and a teacher in this community she is adamantly opposed to Resolution No. 10-68. The <br /> 322 council members should ask themselves why the community wouldn't want to provide translation to <br /> 323 support non-English speaking citizens so they can be fully citizens of the community. <br /> 324 <br /> 325 Nancy Charden, 912 136th Lane, Ham Lake. She works for the Anoka Hennepin School District in an <br /> 326 elementary school. That school happens to have a very large population of English as second <br /> 327 language children. She witnesses every day new families coming into the area and some have literally <br /> 328 been off an airplane perhaps a day or two. The children come to school not knowing how to speak <br /> 329 English but are put into a classroom with many others who are learning English and others who <br /> 330 already speak English. It isn't long before children pick up the language but they go home to parents <br /> 331 who don't know the language and are having a hard time learning it. She believes that picture is the <br /> 332 exact same picture as many generations ago. Children learn English easily—they are excited to do it <br /> 333 and they want to be like the other children. For the parents, it is more difficult and while they will <br /> 334 learn, in the meantime they need help in getting services and information for making decisions for <br /> 335 their children. It is clear that it takes a generation for that new-to-the-country family to become <br /> 336 English proficient. It is no different than generations ago when Germans or Norwegians came and <br /> 337 their children brought English into the home. <br /> 138 <br /> 39 Jerry Berg, 6489 Totem Trail, Lino Lakes, since 1973. The residents of Lino Lakes look to the <br /> 340 Mayor, Council Members and city staff to keep expenses as low as possible. Having the official <br /> 341 language of English makes sense. He supports the Mayor and Council Members and asks them to <br /> 342 vote in favor of the resolution. <br /> 343 <br /> 344 Mike Wisniewski, 6011 West Bald Eagle, Lino Lakes for 23 years. He celebrates diversity and not <br /> 345 divisiveness. He believes in living united in the United States and that requires good communication. <br /> 346 The best communication he's found is through common language and this resolution supports that. <br /> 347 He hopes that all immigrants will get all the help they need to speak the language and there are fine <br /> 348 organizations helping with that. The idea is to encourage others to speak English and their own <br /> 349 language if they wish. Business and good communication requires us to speak the same language. <br /> 350 <br /> 351 Mark Spitzmueller, 6521 White Oak Road, Lino Lakes. This is being presented as a fiscal <br /> 352 responsibility issue and his question is what type of analysis supports that? What are the projected <br /> 353 savings? It seems as if the city is communicating now in English but if other language needs are <br /> 354 there,they should be met. <br /> 355 <br /> 356 Charlene Elmquist, 6310 Otter Lake Road, Lino Lakes. She supports the resolution. English is our <br /> 357 common language. Her four grandparents came from Norway and were very thankful to come to this <br /> 358 land and worked very hard as adults to learn the English language. She is grateful and thankful for <br /> 359 being an American and for the English language which is, by the way, the language of the world. It <br /> 8 <br />