South Carolina: Hilton Head Island to give bonus to employees who speak Spanish

[Harold F. Schiffman]

 Posted on Sun, Sep. 10, 2006

Hilton Head Island to give bonus to employees who speak Spanish

Associated Press HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - Employees for Hilton Head
Island who know Spanish will soon make an additional $1,200 a year. The
program, which goes into effect later this year, is meant to help people
ranging from emergency crews to building permit officers better
communicate with the region's growing Hispanic population. Critics of the
program say it eliminates another reason for immigrants to learn English
with some of the harshest detractors asking why the town is catering to
illegal immigrants. But Hilton Head Island officials said the policy is
pragmatic.

It wouldn't be worth it to have to hire an interpreter for
code-enforcement officers needing to tell someone they were cutting down a
tree improperly, officials said. Also, emergency workers can't refuse to
treat someone who doesn't speak English, and state law requires
interpreters in courtrooms, Mayor Tom Peeples said. "I don't think you can
stick your head in the sand (and say), 'We're not going to give you
service if you're here dying of a heart attack and you can't explain to us
what your symptoms are,'" Peeples said.

Peeples does agree with the critics who say the program shouldn't have
been extended outside of emergency workers. Beaufort County has a similar
program only for law enforcement officers. But the mayor said Town Council
doesn't like to micromanage the operations of Town Hall. Municipal
governments often are forced into short-term solutions to deal with
growing populations who speak a different language, University of South
Carolina political science professor Blease Graham said.

The program has generated a lot of interest in the community. At a Town
Council meeting last week, Fabia Kendall, who said she didn't know a word
of English when her family came to America from Italy, told council
members her family didn't expect to encounter government workers speaking
anything other than English. "Your incentive plan treats this issue with
little or no respect for the obligations that come with legal immigration,
and completely sidesteps the issue of illegal immigration. It is just
plain wrong and an insult to all of those who came to this country legally
and properly to improve their way of life," Kendall said to applause.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/15487674.htm
***********************************************************************************

N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of
the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a
message are encouraged to post a rebuttal.

***********************************************************************************