Q&A
Discussion on enforcement and prioritization of language access
3:03:08
·
139 sec
Council Member Avilés raises concerns about enforcement of language access standards and asks for input on prioritization.
- Discusses the need for higher standards beyond minimum compliance
- Asks panelists about enforcement mechanisms and priorities
- Riva Shang from AAF responds, emphasizing the need for better reporting mechanisms for business owners
Alexa Avilés
3:03:08
they're not willing to, like, go through all the weird machinations of the having a speaker and having while you're doing these inspections, which brings me back to this notion of enforcement.
3:03:23
And higher standards.
3:03:25
I feel like we're stuck in a spiral of we're just trying to comply with the bare minimum and never seem to be advancing toward full standards.
3:03:35
So I guess I realize I'm probably doing more commentary than questions, but where would you prioritize?
3:03:48
I guess, what do you think about this question of enforcement?
3:03:52
And how the city could do that.
3:03:55
And where would you prioritize in this huge apparatus of places that we could really begin to, like, build our language access and cultural competence.
Kenneth Lo
3:04:08
Right.
Alexa Avilés
3:04:08
It's a big question.
3:04:09
I should have administration that question.
Riva Shang
3:04:13
Yeah.
3:04:13
I think for us, because there's so little enforcement mechanism for local law 30, it's crucial.
3:04:20
Like, we're the ones on the ground hearing these complaints from business owners, and there's really no ability for them to report these cases themselves to agencies.
3:04:29
So we're really the one gathering these stories and being the conduit for being able to bring it to, you know, city governments attention.
3:04:36
I don't know.
3:04:38
I you know, as not a policy wonk myself, I'm not sure what we could implement, but I would say giving the business owners themselves some sort of recourse to be able to report when language access is not being offered I think in general with inspections, there's just a power dynamic at play where immigrant business owners have very little ability to say, you know, report when they're being treated unfairly or The inspector is just coming in, issuing violations, not really explaining.
3:05:07
This is something we really see on the ground all the time.
3:05:10
So in general, I think with with inspectors, there needs to be a little bit more of a recourse for business owners to report when inspectors are being unfair and when they're not being patient with, you know, offering language line or letting them know that these services exist.
