Council revisits meeting translation discussion, opts against purchasing CivicMedia or Teams
After Councilor Melisa Fonseca requested that an item be removed from the consent agenda, the Marshalltown city council resumed a discussion that began during the previous meeting about live streaming and translation options before ultimately deciding to move forward without any changes to the system on Friday afternoon.
Once the item, which called for allocating around $13,000 in Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) dollars to implement CivicClerk Pro Premium, Live Meeting Manager and Municode, had been pulled and Councilor Jeff Schneider made a motion to approve it, Fonseca presented a motion to amend the resolution and include the CivicMedia package with live closed captioning in both English and Spanish.
She also called for maintaining the current YouTube streaming option, and Councilor/Mayor Pro Tem Mike Ladehoff offered a second to her motion. Councilor Greg Nichols then motioned for another amendment that would switch to a Microsoft Teams platform with 40 languages of live closed captioning translation offered, citing its widespread use in the business world and accessibility to a wider swath of Marshalltown residents.
The cost, Nichols added, only amounted to about $600 a year, or $50 a month.
“It would be providing way more service for far less cost than the CivicPlus audio,” he said.
Councilor Gary Thompson pointed out that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the council allowed individuals to participate in meetings virtually via Zoom but has since discontinued the practice.
“So I don’t understand why we are spending money to stream the meetings in other languages when several of you said during the last meeting that YouTube translates after the fact,” he said. “So, I guess, why would we spend money to stream the meeting live to someone sitting at home that can’t participate anyway? So it doesn’t matter if they watch it live or if they watch it a half an hour after the meeting’s over and have it translated.”
He felt the only real benefit would be for people who came to the meeting in person and streamed the meeting before coming up to the podium to participate.
“I just don’t see that happening. I think if people that do not speak English, if they want to participate, they’ll find a way to participate with an interpreter,” Thompson said. “I know when I owned my small business, it didn’t stop people from coming and utilizing my services. They brought interpreters with them, so I don’t understand why we’re spending money for something that doesn’t engage the public outside of this room. I need someone to answer that for me, please.”
Nichols countered that the ability to watch meetings live gave people “a better handle” on the meeting, and he saw his amendment as a way to engage more residents.
“Which I think would be a good thing, because we want to include all of our community because they have a part in Marshalltown,” he said.
Councilor Barry Kell lamented that they were “belaboring” the issue for the second straight meeting, noting that so far this year, meetings have averaged 263 views in a city of 27,500 people.
“It’s not a language issue. It’s an ability to communicate with the community as a whole issue,” Kell said. “I’m all in support of bringing as many people to the conversation as possible. I think we revert back to the original motion as is and then create a task force or look at this holistically. Yes, offering translation services in real time, whatever format, should bring more people here. The reality is, we’re not communicating with the public at all. The numbers say that. Why don’t we look at this more holistically and determine what method, company approach helps us achieve our objective?”
He felt the council was trying to solve a problem without fully understanding its scope and what the impediments were toward correcting it. Schneider said he would likely vote with Kell against both amendments and thought the matter should be revisited after the city eventually hires a communications specialist, who could then lead outreach efforts to non-English speakers.
“There’s questionable implementation in my mind, technically,” Schneider said of the Nichols’ amendment. “I don’t know how we can syndicate on both YouTube and Teams at the same time. I don’t know if that’s technically possible, and I think we need to look into that before we make this decision.”
Fonseca shared frustration with the effort being “diverted” to a future communications director when it is already known that Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in Marshalltown. She said she had reached out to officials in a Virginia community currently using the CivicMedia platform, and the city clerk told her the council overwhelmingly approved of it there, even asking that it be implemented. Additionally, that city has interpreters and headsets on site for meetings.
“They had nothing but good things to say about this platform. Our website needs to be updated and kept technologically current with the needs of the community. If we talk about how many people have captions on their TV shows, on their TV, on their phone, etc. etc., a lot of people use captions,” Fonseca said. “It’s a thing, and this way, it already is incorporated.”
She hoped both YouTube and CivicMedia could work together to reach more residents. Ladehoff then opened the floor for public comment, and Jimmy Landt stepped forward first to share an anecdote about a cousin who brought back a German wife from the war.
“I’m sure it was a requirement under the citizens of the United States (that) you had to learn to speak English, so why isn’t these other people in this town learning to speak English and understand English?” he asked. “If you’re a citizen, I think, it’s a requirement. You need to check that out, so why should we have to cater to other people when this is America. This is the home of the free, so we should be able to speak English.”
Ladehoff responded that the United States has never had an official language, and he added that younger learners tend to pick their second language more quickly than those who are learning at an older age — for whom it takes an average of seven years.
“You’re learning along the way, and that’s if you are taking lessons and classes and everything like that. Along the way, you’re also paying taxes, OK, so you’re helping fund everything that you don’t understand, and for the amount of taxes that are being paid, the amount of money that we’re talking here isn’t much at all. It’s just to help them along until they learn English.”
Landt said he didn’t have a problem with that “as long as they were trying to learn the language” but lived in a neighborhood where many older members of Hispanic families — who he called “great people” always willing to help out others. He also said he played in a pool league with many Hispanic residents who are “great pool players” and understand English.
“If you don’t put your effort to it and not try it, you’re just gonna have somebody sit in the back seat all the time and say ‘Oh, I’m just gonna have somebody who’s gonna interpret it to me. They’re gonna take care of me. I don’t have to learn it. My kids’ll take care of me,'” he said.
Ladehoff said German immigrants like his own ancestors had been told they needed to learn the language faster in the past, but it simply takes time. Landt then cut off Ladehoff to tell another story about going to a KFC and seeing a Hispanic family struggling to communicate with an employee of the restaurant about the number of plates they needed.
“You’ve gotta be willing to help yourself if you’re gonna live in this country,” Landt said. “If you don’t help yourself, you can’t depend on nobody. You gotta depend on yourself. That’s what I’m saying.”
He added that he agreed with Thompson about spending the money in a way that addresses other issues such as roads and reiterated his belief that anyone who comes to the U.S. should learn English. Leigh Bauder discussed her business background and experience with translation before opining that the council should accommodate all of the city’s minorities.
“I like the idea. It’s an excellent idea on using the Microsoft Teams. I like the idea of using a task force. Go out there. Figure out what is the best solution for the city as a whole. Not English, not Spanish, all of the, what do we have, 50 plus languages in this community?” she asked.
Public Works Director Heather Thomas then came forward and said anyone who speaks another language and attends a meeting in person will receive “reasonable accommodations” from city officials on translation as long as they reach out ahead of time.
The council voted down the Teams motion by a 6-1 tally, with Nichols as the only affirmative vote, and then rejected the CivicPlus media package by a 5-2 tally with Fonseca and Ladehoff in favor.
The original resolution to implement CivicClerk, Live Meeting Manager and Municode passed by a unanimous tally.
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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.