Is KC Tenants destroying the development future of downtown KCMO?

[Anthony_Hugo98]

I could understand how the source of income made a decent bit of sense, but at this point they’re grasping at straws to pretend there are major issues they’re solving here…

[TheLastGentleman]

This is what we're supposed to be mad about? What is you people's problem? Honestly!

[im2kull]

This is what we're supposed to be mad about? What is you people's problem? Honestly!

Is this parody?

[FangKC]

I don't know what the controversy is here. This has been done in other places for years. When I worked for Arizona's Medicaid program in the late 1980s/early 90s, state agencies and the City of Phoenix provided translater service and printed materials for non-English speakers. When I worked for a large medical center in New York City, translators in multiple languages were provided to patients and their families.

KCMO's website can be translated into most languages on the menu bar. The police department has translation services.

Truman Medical Center provides this.

https://www.universityhealthkc.org/pati ... -services/

The Housing Authority of Kansas City provides this service.

What if I have special needs?

Please tell us if you need the assistance of any kind to access our services, and let us know if you need special features in your housing. (For example, wheelchair accessibility, customized interviews, and housing in specific locations.) If you need an interpreter or a translator, tell us, and we will provide one for you. We will make every effort to meet your needs.

https://www.hakc.org/tenant-selection-faqs

[Belvidere]

I don't know what the controversy is here. This has been done in other places for years. When I worked for Arizona's Medicaid program in the late 1980s/early 90s, state agencies and the City of Phoenix provided translater service and printed materials for non-English speakers. When I worked for a large medical center in New York City, translators in multiple languages were provided to patients and their families.

KCMO's website can be translated into most languages on the menu bar. The police department has translation services.

Truman Medical Center provides this.

https://www.universityhealthkc.org/pati ... -services/

The Housing Authority of Kansas City provides this service.

What if I have special needs?

Please tell us if you need the assistance of any kind to access our services, and let us know if you need special features in your housing. (For example, wheelchair accessibility, customized interviews, and housing in specific locations.) If you need an interpreter or a translator, tell us, and we will provide one for you. We will make every effort to meet your needs.

https://www.hakc.org/tenant-selection-faqs

It is a necessity and I am glad they are taking it up. We've been complaining about barriers to participation in policymaking for a long time. Language interpreter, interpretation for people who are deaf, access for people who have disabilities, accessibility to transit, even the timing of meetings. Very few people can take off work to go testify at a council session, for example. We could try to fix that.

[im2kull]

Very few people can take off work to go testify at a council session, for example. We could try to fix that.

That should be a focus.

[beautyfromashes]

Very few people can take off work to go testify at a council session, for example. We could try to fix that.

So, stop doing it. Why pull people away from their jobs anyway? or their familes? And if the current in-person requirement only allows one demographic group to give input, doesn't that unfairly skew legislation towards just certain groups? Allow digital input and voting and dump the two minute speeches. They're largely a waste of time anyway.

[Belvidere]

Very few people can take off work to go testify at a council session, for example. We could try to fix that.

So, stop doing it. Why pull people away from their jobs anyway? or their familes? And if the current in-person requirement only allows one demographic group to give input, doesn't that unfairly skew legislation towards just certain groups? Allow digital input and voting and dump the two minute speeches. They're largely a waste of time anyway.

I don't feel they are a waste of time and it's healthy for people to participate in the process. It's only a waste of time when people start repeating themselves.

Democracy is a messy. We should have a lot more of it.

The risk of only having virtual options is that they will "check the box" and ignore everything people want. You would be handing over political power on a silver platter and you'd never get it back.

My personal beef with only certain groups having power and showing up: the barriers a group like KCT is trying to remove. Can we honestly say that influential groups like The Downtown Council or ULI are representative of Kansas City? Why do we allow industry groups to set the strategy for what the city should become? I don't personally enjoy some of the changes. I like a city that is unpredictable and quirky. Instead, we seem hell bent on creating something that's welcoming to suburbanites who would never dream of living here. That's not a real city to me. I do want it to be clean and safe, and have a lot more people. I would also like weird small businesses to be able to thrive, for artists be able to afford studio space, etc.

It's important to have a robust process and that means listening to people who are active in their communities, and yet English may not be their first language. They have ideas and a perspective that we all need to hear. The lack of real public engagement means certain areas of the city will be completely steamrolled and used as a means to an end. The phrase that poverty is a policy choice, unfortunately, turns out to be true.

[Cratedigger]

Do they allow prerecorded two minute speeches to be shown/recorded?

[DColeKC]

This is what we're supposed to be mad about? What is you people's problem? Honestly!

I'm all for making sure legal immigrants can properly participate in all the things that come along with citizenship. At the same time, the concept of immigrating to a country is supposed to be about becoming part of that countries established culture, including learning the language. Matter of fact, in order to become an American citizen, you must be able to read, write and speak english. How is someone who immigrates to our country ever to achieve the ability to understand our national language if we simply make everything available in all languages, which has to be a very costly program that likely takes funds away from other, more important needs. Doing some basic research, we have spent billions on language services in this country over the last few decades.

So no, I don't think "language access is a human right" and I think lumping everything and anything into the "human right" category is a stretch.

[Belvidere]

This is what we're supposed to be mad about? What is you people's problem? Honestly!

I'm all for making sure legal immigrants can properly participate in all the things that come along with citizenship. At the same time, the concept of immigrating to a country is supposed to be about becoming part of that countries established culture, including learning the language. Matter of fact, in order to become an American citizen, you must be able to read, write and speak english. How is someone who immigrates to our country ever to achieve the ability to understand our national language if we simply make everything available in all languages, which has to be a very costly program that likely takes funds away from other, more important needs. Doing some basic research, we have spent billions on language services in this country over the last few decades.

So no, I don't think "language access is a human right" and I think lumping everything and anything into the "human right" category is a stretch.

It takes time to learn a language and you are not required to conform to the dominant culture. Some people will never be fluent and yet they are holding down full-time jobs. This may be especially true for refugees.

Lots of people are working and paying taxes who don't have citizenship or who cannot vote, yet they are contributing to their communities in meaningful ways. Giving testimony at a city council meeting may be their best shot at having some kind of democratic participation. We spend money on lots of things.

[DColeKC]

^ That's a respectable take and like I said, I want them to be able to participate but I also expect people to assimilate into our country, that includes learning the language. It's the over the top language KCT likes to use and I'm not into "everything is a human right".

[Critical_Mass]

Their own post said only 750+ residents representing 39 languages. Twenty people for every language represented if the distribution is even. Every department in the city needs to hire a translator so the dozen speakers of Amharic can interact with them?
We shouldn't expect to travel anywhere outside of the English speaking world and not have a language barrier. This goes both ways and is just a part of life, I'm afraid.

[KC_Ari]

This is what we're supposed to be mad about? What is you people's problem? Honestly!

I'm all for making sure legal immigrants can properly participate in all the things that come along with citizenship. At the same time, the concept of immigrating to a country is supposed to be about becoming part of that countries established culture, including learning the language. Matter of fact, in order to become an American citizen, you must be able to read, write and speak english. How is someone who immigrates to our country ever to achieve the ability to understand our national language if we simply make everything available in all languages, which has to be a very costly program that likely takes funds away from other, more important needs. Doing some basic research, we have spent billions on language services in this country over the last few decades.

So no, I don't think "language access is a human right" and I think lumping everything and anything into the "human right" category is a stretch.

It takes time to learn a language and you are not required to conform to the dominant culture. Some people will never be fluent and yet they are holding down full-time jobs. This may be especially true for refugees.

Lots of people are working and paying taxes who don't have citizenship or who cannot vote, yet they are contributing to their communities in meaningful ways. Giving testimony at a city council meeting may be their best shot at having some kind of democratic participation. We spend money on lots of things.

And first generation immigrants are less likely to become fluent if they moved at an older age, while their second generation children likely will. They should still have the ability to interact with the community. Especially if they do have children who are growing up in it.

[TheSmokinPun]

Feel like it's important to note that the United States does not have an official language for a reason.

[DColeKC]

Feel like it's important to note that the United States does not have an official language for a reason.

True at the federal level but that really goes back to the beginning when the pushback was it would be against individual liberty to establish an official language. Mainly due to the fact we had native languages and a mixed bag of english in the late 1700's. These days, 31 stages have made english the official language and over 275 million people in this country speak english. Hell we still have various forms of english used all across the country.

Between these "human rights" and technology, I'm not sure there will be an incentive for immigrants to learn english. It's such a massive disadvantage to them and their future to not learn english.

[Belvidere]

Feel like it's important to note that the United States does not have an official language for a reason.

True at the federal level but that really goes back to the beginning when the pushback was it would be against individual liberty to establish an official language. Mainly due to the fact we had native languages and a mixed bag of english in the late 1700's. These days, 31 stages have made english the official language and over 275 million people in this country speak english. Hell we still have various forms of english used all across the country.

Between these "human rights" and technology, I'm not sure there will be an incentive for immigrants to learn english. It's such a massive disadvantage to them and their future to not learn english.

Of course, there is a huge incentive. ESL classes are full. But it takes time, and a functional level of fluency you need to navigate your life is not the same as public participation or cultural understanding. English is my first language and I can struggle to understand the average ordinance in legalese.

You don't teach people to swim when you throw them in to drown. It's a process.

As a society, we push people to work hard versus learning English. The construction crew on my block appear to be mostly Spanish speakers and they are working 6 to 7 days a week, more than 8 hours a day.

[FangKC]

Kansas City flunked its Spanish test. A proposed ordinance aims to bridge City Hall’s language gap

One in 20 Kansas City residents have limited proficiency in English. A proposed change would force City Hall to use languages they understand.

https://kcbeacon.org/stories/2024/02/09 ... pretation/

[im2kull]

Kansas City flunked its Spanish test. A proposed ordinance aims to bridge City Hall’s language gap

One in 20 Kansas City residents have limited proficiency in English. A proposed change would force City Hall to use languages they understand.

https://kcbeacon.org/stories/2024/02/09 ... pretation/

Instead of adding MORE to the city's bloated budget, why don't we focus on helping those folks to become more proficient in English?

[im2kull]

While everyone was sleeping KCT infiltrated several important boards and commissions including the LCRA, EDC, BZA/ZBOA, and more.