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HAAB Minutes 04/25/1996 Minutes Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board Meeting April 25, 1996 HISPANIC AFFAIRS ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES OF MEETING April 25, 1996 EAST NAPLES PUBLIC LIBRARY NAPLES, FLORIDA PRESENT: Ramiro Maiialich, Chief Assistant County Attorney, BCC Liaison to HAAB David Correa, HAAB Member Eva Delashmet, HAAB Member Frank Loney, HAAB Member Mireya Louviere, HAAB Member Neil Morales, HAAB Member Frank Rodriguez, HAAB Member, Chairman Pedro Vazquez, HAAB Member The meeting of the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board convened at 7:25 PM. Ramiro Maiialich, Staff Liaison, mentioned that the minutes of April II , 1996 would not be available until the next meeting. There were no minutes from the March 28th meeting in Immokalee since there had been no quorum. The minutes from the January 31, 1996 meeting were previously approved but Mr. Valdez was allowed to attach a one page document and news article of clarification. Mireya Louviere was introduced as a new member of the Hispanic Board. Mireya Louviere moved, seconded by Mr. Morales, to approve the minutes as presented and they were approved by unanimous vote. Frank Rodriguez started off the meeting by mentioning that, at the April 11, 1996 meeting with Naples Community Hospital, NCH President William Crone said there was no foreign language prohibition policy. The audience and employees of NCH had raised concerns and Frank thought that it had been a productive meeting for all concerned. He observed that the issue had been fully discussed in the open and NCH had been receptive to questions. __. ._'M_.......,'~..__ Liaison Rl<j:>ort Ramiro Maiialich reported that two Hispanic Board positions are now vacant and are being advertised. Ramiro Maiialich further mentioned that the Board of County Commissioners is scrutinizing the role of the County Attorney in attending the meetings of advisory boards. A discussion was held among the members regarding the continued attendance at Hispanic Board meetings ofRamiro Maiialich. A motion was made by Mireya Louviere and Frank Rodriguez to keep Ramiro Maiialich as liaison in attendance at the meetings. Neil Morales provided the second. The motion was approved unanimously. It was directed that Mireya Louviere prepare a letter to the County Attorney reflecting the vote of the Board on this matter. Ramiro Maiialich provided a copy of a letter from attorney George Vega regarding the Naples Community Hospital meeting. Frank Rodriguez asked that this letter be a part ofthe minutes of this meeting. Ramiro Maiialich reminded the Board members that an affirmative vote of five members is necessary for official action. The Board consensus was also for Ramiro Maiialich to continue preparing the minutes of the Hispanic Board. Discussion Rei:ardini: NCH Meetin~ of April II. 1996 Frank Rodriguez reminded the Board members that a resolution was needed as follow up to the NCH meeting. He stated that such a resolution should emphasize the Collier County cultural diversity and should have a positive message for the Board of County Commissioners to endorse suggesting the public and private sector support of cultural diversity in the workplace. Frank also stated that the meeting with NCH had disclosed that there are problems with translation services as presently structured at NCH. Frank Loney commented that he had problems with NCH "experimentation" in ethnic diversity. He stated that it was not right for NCH to attempt to make their facility an English only location since not all staff members at NCH have the opportunity to learn English. He wondered if there would be a penalty for those who could not speak English? Eva Delashmet observed that there was a problem with NCH hiring employees who could not speak English and at the same time not allowing them to speak other languages. Neil Morales observed that the comments of NCH staff indicated that whatever policy existed it was merely to refrain from foreign languages in the presence of English speaking patients as a matter of courtesy. Ramiro Maiialich reminded the HAAB members that NCH representatives had stated that NCH had no policy restricting the use of foreign languages at NCH and that said representatives had also mentioned that any comments about the use of foreign languages related only to courtesy and sensitivity to patients who do not speak foreign languages. 2 Frank Loney commented that he understood the need to be courteous and sensitive to those who do not understand foreign languages, but he stated that his concern was for any prohibition that NCH may have enacted regarding the use of foreign languages. Frank stated that he worked at NCH and was recruited to translate yet he was not compensated for those additional services unlike German translators who were paid as professional translators. David Correa observed that if a perception exists among the employees that there is a foreign language restriction then there should be a written policy clarifYing that there exists no such policy restriction. Armando Ayala, registered nurse, and a former employee of NCH, stated that if one were to ask NCH employees those employees would tell the Board that NCH representatives told them to not speak foreign languages. He said that NCH then retracted those directions. Mr. Aylala stated that there was a definite fear of job loss among the employees if a grievance procedure was used. He thought that employees would be forced to quit if they complained about a foreign language restriction policy. Mr. Frances Wanze, a member of the Collier County Unity Council and a mental health professional and therapist, stated that his recollection of the April II th meeting was that the NCH President had acknowledged that there had been some type of prohibition on the use of foreign languages but that later NCH had corrected that position with an apology. He thought that the real issue was what the Hispanic Board could do about this very real problem and that the Hispanic Board needed to get an effective policy to clarify the language usage issue. He believed there should not be any foreign language prohibition. He felt that a mere explanation to affected patients who do not speak foreign languages should be sufficient. He observed that paranoia about the use of foreign languages lies with those who are paranoid, not with those who are using the foreign language. He felt that it was appropriate to create a positive resolution on this subject without creating unnecessary divisiveness. He further relayed that he thought that this entire controversy had started when a wealthy contributor to the hospital complained to hospital representatives about Hispanics in an elevator who were speaking Spanish and that this contributor thought that they were talking about the contributor. Mr. Victor Valdez, Editor of Las Naciones News, stated that he has resided in Naples for seventeen years and that he has heard many complaints about restrictions on the use of foreign languages at NCH. He also stated that there was a fear of job loss among minorities who spoke foreign languages in the event that they complained about such a language restriction. He stated that the Civil Rights Act applies to employers with more than fifteen employees. Frank Loney requested that NCH create a written policy clarifying that there is no foreign language usage prohibition. 3 - -<""-'_..._,..,._-,----~--,._"'.__..-..,.,--~~-,_.._- Mireya Louviere stated that she was shocked that a major medical facility that serves a multi- ethnic clientele would not have sufficient interpreters available. She considered this to be an attitude problem of the NCH administration. Frank Loney observed at this point that there are interpreters used by NCH for languages other than Spanish. Mr. Henry Tribble, Chairman of the Black Affairs Advisory Board, stated that he thought there was sufficient concern raised in these discussions that the Hispanic Board should act in regard to the lack of qualified interpreters and the language prohibition/retaliation issues involving NCH. He suggested that the Hispanic Board should get additional information from NCH regarding the interpreters that they are using and a written clarification of the nonexistence of a language restriction policy. He thought that the lack of sufficient interpreters violates the civil rights laws. He did not think that any further research was needed in order to require NCH to respond to the facts and to the confusion which has been created about these subjects. He observed that a written clarification is needed by NCH because this has become a community-wide issue of concern. Armando Ayala observed that there are German interpreters being used as a marketing tool for NCH in regard to German tourists, yet NCH does not have adequate Spanish translating services for its permanent Hispanic residents. Neil Morales thought that an NCH policy in writing was not needed since NCH had already clarified that there is no policy prohibiting the speaking of foreign languages. A motion was made by Mireya Louviere and seconded by Frank Rodriguez requesting NCH to clarifY in writing that it has no policy prohibiting the use of foreign languages and requesting from NCH a list of qualified interpreters that have been used at NCH and a copy of a roster of the interpreters used for one month in the recent past. Mireya suggested that a copy of this letter be provided to the Board of County Commissioners, to the Black Affairs Advisory Board and to the members of the Unity Counsel. This motion passed by a 7-0 vote. Comments Re&ardini: Discussion Which Was Held in Immokalee in March of 1996 Mr. Victor Valdez referred to a discussion which had occurred in Immokalee (at the Hispanic Board meeting which was advertised but for which there was no quorum) with Sheriffs Detective Kistner regarding complaints of excessive use of force by the Sheriffs Department against members of the Hispanic community. Mr. Valdez asked the Hispanic Board to allow him to be heard at the next Hispanic Board meeting to follow up and clarify what he stated were inaccuracies in Detective Kistner's comments. Frank Rodriguez stated that since there had been no quorum for the Immokalee meeting, that there was no need to hear from Mr. Valdez in regard to this matter. Mr. Valdez, according to Mr. Rodriguez, should take up his arguments directly with the officer involved. Mr. Valdez responded by saying that Mr. Rodriguez should recuse himself from this subject because of a conflict of interest. 4 .-> '-"","_m..".""' ".' ~,.'~'.'_M""~._.~_.~"'._ A motion was made by Neil Morales to put Mr. Valdez on the next Hispanic Board agenda so that he could present his comments about this matter. This motion was seconded by Mireya Louviere who also commented that once this matter is addressed at the next meeting then it should be considered concluded. The vote on the motion was 5-2 in favor ofthe motion. Clerical Support Issues Neil Morales reported that it would cost $47.00 for 500 sheets of HAAB letterhead. Mireya Louviere moved for the preparation of an executive summary to be submitted to the Board of County Commissioners for approval of funding for HAAB letterhead. She stated that this should occur after the NCH letter copies go to the Board of County Commissioners (approximately two to three weeks later). A subcommittee of Mireya Louviere, David Correa and Neil Morales should be set up to work with Ramiro Maiialich regarding the executive summary. The motion regarding the executive summary was seconded by Neil Morales and was approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:35 PM. Respectfully submitted by: ;-:J. 1J7LM2. ~ C) ~ir~ Maiialich Staff Liaison to the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board APPROVED BY ~E ~PANIC AFFAIRS ADVISORY BOARD ON lo:l.. , 1996. / fuok1;1?h~ Chairman of the Board 5 _..,._..".,,-,._--_._~_.~.p-_.,.. ...~~,....._~~--,--_.". .._~-~._.-