Bilingual Customer Service Reps Serve A Growing Hispanic Population
According to the 2000 census, 2,341 of Rock Island’s 39,684 residents are Hispanic. says Roberto Medina, who gets calls or visits from Spanish-speaking residents all the time. “I help at least two customers a day in Spanish,” he said. Not only does he answer questions about city bills, he often is asked by departments such as public works, inspections, and community and economic development to help translate.
“It’s important to have a human in there, rather than just have a copy of our building code in Spanish and point from one to the other,” building official Tom Ayers said. “You need the intelligent human who speaks both languages”, so Roberto, in this case, is really critical.
Previously, when inspectors had to discuss a problem building or routine inspection with a Hispanic owner, they would ask for an English-speaking relative — often a child — to help translate, he said.
