This community opinion was contributed by Jennifer Coile. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent BenitoLink or other affiliated contributors. Lea este artículo en español aquí. 

Question: What did we learn from the recent fires in Los Angeles and Moss Landing?
Answer: That accurate and timely public information is critical – especially about dangerous conditions, safe evacuation routes, and the timing of actions to avoid harm.
At the meeting of March 3, 2025, I asked the City Council of Hollister if they provide emergency information in indigenous languages and if so, which ones. I don’t believe we should rely on a six year old family member who has learned some Spanish to be able to translate “lithium battery toxic smoke” from Spanish into, say, Mixteco.

Since June of last year, I have asked the County of San Benito updating the Housing Element of the General Plan to include a program of providing fair housing information in languages other than Spanish. The initial response was that the Resource Management Agency was uncertain about which indigenous languages are spoken here. I suggested they ask the County Sheriff, school districts or the County Office of Education, and the hospital emergency room, who may have contracts with interpretation services by telephone like Language Line.

When Napa County surveyed 624 farmworkers in 2023-24, they identified 18 indigenous languages. Please note that many of them are not written languages. In Ventura County, information about Covid was provided in Facebook videos taped in four languages by multilingual staff of the County Farmworker Resource Program.

A software engineer in Greenfield developed an app called Nurbli that is a sort of digital bulletin board, providing school district and local government information in English and Spanish, but also in Mixteco or Triqui. Users can either read or listen to notices.

I ask the City of Hollister and County of San Benito to seek to support the indigenous members of our community by offering information and help in their language, especially in emergencies.

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