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It was decided that this would be a topic for the Board of County Commissioners/Health <br />Board meeting scheduled for next month. <br />Commissioner Brown asked for a report on the services the County provides in the whole <br />area of substance abuse - what is being done and who is doing it. <br />Commissioner Jacobs made reference to a handout at the January 16 retreat on a strategic <br />Aging plan and said that he feels we need to address some of these issues. He feels we need to <br />have equal opportunities for seniors in the northern and southern parts of Orange County. <br />Commissioner Brown feels that this is the time to develop a senior plan. The Board decided <br />that they need to discuss this further and make some decisions. <br />ESL <br />Chair Gordon said that she feels it is important to support English as a Second Language <br />(ESL) as much as possible. <br />Commissioner Jacobs wants to make government more accessible to people who don't <br />speak English. He supports training for employees in speaking Spanish. Also, Commissioner <br />Halkiotis supports having Spanish signs in all County buildings. <br />Chair Gordon said that she would like to see a heavy emphasis on the newcomers to our <br />area getting what they need to succeed, including learning English. That needs to be the message <br />and we need to support that with dollars and have classes readily available at different times during <br />the day and evening hours. <br />Commissioner Carey feels we need to do both -- teach English to the Spanish speaking <br />residents and teach Spanish to those who interact with citizens. We also need to address the <br />literacy in this County. We have residents here who cannot read. <br />It was clarified that Lucy Lewis, Orange County Literacy Director, is trying to address many <br />issues dealing with ESL along with issues dealing with literacy, and that allocating additional funding <br />to the Literacy Council may be the best thing to do to help this countywide effort. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis feels it is important to get information out to the Spanish speaking <br />citizens in Spanish so that they can understand health issues and issues affecting their children. <br />Some parents are working three or four jobs and do not have time to learn English. He feels we <br />need to re-sign all our buildings which could probably be done for $1,000. <br />Commissioner Brown feels that teaching employees Spanish is probably not too successful. <br />However, she feels that teaching employees to have a sensitivity to people who don't understand <br />what is going on is very important. She feels we should consider hiring people who speak Spanish <br />and also identify those we have hired who speak different languages. John Link said that this is <br />something they can work on. <br />WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM <br />Commissioner Brown made reference to the proposal for the wastewater treatment and <br />management program (WIMP). It was decided that this will be discussed at the BOCC/Health <br />Board joint meeting scheduled for March 9.