Contributor: How Spanish speakers are shut out of L.A.'s planning processes

"Nearly a third of L.A. County residents speak Spanish at home. Many speak little or no English. Spanish is part of what makes L.A., L.A."

"Public agencies in California are required to conduct community outreach, and most take that obligation seriously. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Metro, translates documents into Spanish, hosts bilingual workshops and funds community liaisons."

"Translation is not communication. When a project notice lands in someone's mailbox, or more likely on a webpage they will never visit, announcing a 'scoping meeting on the alternatives analysis,' it fails everyone."

"The problem isn't Spanish. The problem is that planning documents are barely comprehensible in English. Translated word for word, they become something parseable only by a bilingual transportation engineer."

Spanish is a vital part of Los Angeles, with nearly a third of residents speaking it at home. Despite efforts by public agencies like Metro to engage Spanish speakers through translations and bilingual workshops, many remain uninformed about crucial infrastructure decisions. The complexity of planning documents, often filled with jargon, makes them inaccessible even to English speakers, let alone Spanish speakers. This communication gap highlights a significant flaw in community outreach efforts, leaving many residents without a voice in decisions that affect their lives.

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