Thread: IL: Trustee candidate says "learn English"

Wauconda trustee candidate: Hispanics should learn English
By Russell Lissau | Daily Herald Staff
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Wauconda's village board candidates are divided over comments one hopeful made about the village's Hispanic community.

During a group interview at the Daily Herald's Lake County office on March 10, trustee candidate Mark Kwasigroch said Spanish-speaking residents "need to learn how to read English if they're going to live in Wauconda."

Kwasigroch was responding to rival candidate Lincoln Knight's suggestion the village publish its quarterly newsletter in Spanish to reach the town's Hispanic population.

Kwasigroch expanded on the comment during a telephone interview Monday.

"Whether you're Polish, Hispanic, German or whatever, I believe that heritage should be embraced," Kwasigroch said. "But I think citizens of the United States need to read English. Communities that spend money in excess to communicate in other languages, I think, is unnecessary."

That stance has been criticized by other candidates.

"I was a bit startled by the comment," candidate John Barbini said. "You have to reach out to all your residents. It's just the reality of modern-day America, and to ignore that reality is not a realistic approach."

But some sided with Kwasigroch.

"Where do we cut it?" incumbent Cathy Scott said of Knights' call for bilingual newsletters. "Do we then start doing it in (an Indian language)? Do we do it in Polish? I mean, this is the United States."

Six trustee candidates are seeking three seats on the board. Kwasigroch, Barbini, Knight and Scott will be joined on the April 7 ballot by Danielle Zimmermann and Pamela Wahl.

The candidates are split into two slates.

Kwasigroch, Scott and Zimmermann are part of incumbent Mayor Salvatore Saccomanno's Wauconda First group. Linda Lochmayer is the slate's clerk candidate.

Barbini, Knight and Wahl are part of the Wauconda United slate, which is headed by mayoral candidate and current trustee Mark Knigge. Ginger Irwin is the slate's candidate for clerk.

Two independent mayoral candidates also are running: Thomas F. Larkin and Roger Wojcicki.

About 16 percent of Wauconda's roughly 9,400 residents are Hispanic, according to estimates from the Lake County Partners economic development group. That figure is up from about 11 percent in 2000.

Kwasigroch's comments received support from the members of his slate.

"I believe if you live in America, you need to know English," Zimmermann said. "If I chose to live in Germany, I would learn German. It's a matter of embracing where you're choosing (to live)."

Because the village is struggling financially, printing versions of the newsletter in Spanish or any other language isn't a priority, Zimmermann said.

Scott called the newsletters a "huge expense" and said it'd be too expensive to print copies in another language.

Wahl, a member of the opposition slate, disagreed - and according to village staffers, she's right. The reports cost about $2,700 per issue now, Assistant Administrator Linda Krajniak said, and that figure likely wouldn't increase if some newsletters were printed in Spanish and sent to Hispanic households.

Wahl said offering newsletters and other village-related documents in Spanish would be helpful while people are learning English.

"I believe (immigrant) residents are trying to speak English," she said. "But while they're learning, we need to offer them materials in a language they completely understand. That will make them better citizens, because they'll be informed."

Knight, the candidate who raised the issue in the March 10 meeting, said a Spanish-language newsletter would be a good way to connect with residents and business owners who have invested in Wauconda.

"We need to reach out to them and let them know we're glad to see that they're here... (and) that the local government is here to help them as needed," said Knight, an incumbent trustee.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=279410&src=3

This will be a local race to watch! I had to take a double take to see this was in Illinois.

"I was a bit startled by the comment," candidate John Barbini said. "You have to reach out to all your residents. It's just the reality of modern-day America, and to ignore that reality is not a realistic approach."

There's usually someone in the family who can translate for the non-English speaker. That's what we and millions of other legal immigrants did.

Wahl said offering newsletters and other village-related documents in Spanish would be helpful while people are learning English.

What I have experienced and seen through the years with working with the illegals, they don`t want to learn english, they tell me to learn spanish!
I know some that have been in this country for 10 or 15 years and they still don`t speak english. It`s just more catering to a certain group of illegals!

"I believe if you live in America, you need to know English," Zimmermann said. "If I chose to live in Germany, I would learn German. It's a matter of embracing where you're choosing (to live)."

Like to point out common sense comments.

I really don't think we should violate the traditions of this country for the benefit of some ethnic group uneducated enough not to realize we brought the western region from Mexico.
In Lee Co. FL, I went quite nuts when the school district decided to publish booklets for parents to help their kids with homework in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. How is anyone not able to read the lessons in English going to be able to help a child with their science or math? While I never got my hands on the manual (in English) it seemed to be one of the most stupid wastes of money for translation and printing.

Holy Crud!

Originally Posted by fedupinwaukegan

This will be a local race to watch! I had to take a double take to see this was in Illinois.

Could there be a Waukegan in a different state that we're unaware of?

Can you imagine how better off our Cities/States/Country if these types of things happened? One can only hope...

So if they post things in only English and Spanish, aren't they discriminating against all those who speak another language? If I moved there, and only spoke Mixtec, I'd sue them.

That stance has been criticized by other candidates.

I'm looking for candidates to have this stance! I'll volunteer or do whatever I could to get them elected!

Best of luck to Kwasigroch.

Maybe this one person understands that the folks that don't speak English DON'T VOTE.

Wahl said offering newsletters and other village-related documents in Spanish would be helpful while people are learning English.

"I believe (immigrant) residents are trying to speak English," she said. "But while they're learning, we need to offer them materials in a language they completely understand. That will make them better citizens, because they'll be informed."

Nothing could be further from the truth! These people are not going to learn English, because they have no reason to! They are coddled at every turn whereby this country has bent over backwards to provide them with their beloved spanish. Our government will and does provide translators and documents printed in spanish at each and every request. Their children are offered bilingual programs in almost every school district across this country.

Pressing #1 for English is now the norm for virtually every phone call you make in this country. Cable companies are now running commercials in spanish with English subtitles! To add insult to injury, my dishwashing detergent is now printed in spanish!

So my question is: If these people are working so hard at learning English, then why are we as a nation being inundated with the spanish language! Increasingly, I now apparently need be bilingual ( of course with the second language being spanish) in order to apply for many jobs in certain states around this country!

If these people are working so hard at learning English, then why am I now required to speak spanish? Can someone answer that question?

Of course, we are expected to believe these intrusions/requirements are merely temporary until these people accomplish the task of learning English.

Why am I having a difficult time buying that argument?

I hope this effort succeeds! It's about time! I was in the county tax office outside Austin to get my license registration and was appalled to see that the majority of people waiting there couldn't speak a SINGLE word of English. One guy I watched who had a translator had no SS number, no drivers license and no insurance. Yet, he was trying to transfer the title of his car!!! I told my wife that I just couldn't stand it so I left the office. My wife who happens to be a "non-U.S. born" American citizen was also pretty hacked off at what she was seeing! This was just another example of how YOUR tax dollars are being spent!