Title
Latino Engagement Taskforce Recommendations
Body
Summary and Background Information: Commerce City is one of Colorado's most diverse municipalities, with Latinos comprising 46 percent of the population. The city manager initiated a Latino Engagement Taskforce (LET) in 2015 to help position the city to become a leader in building a stronger and more inclusive community. Facilitated by Cultivando, the goal of LET was to obtain constructive and solution-focused participation from community members on how Commerce City can better engage, involve, and authentically serve its Latino community.
Cultivando established an application process to recruit interested Commerce City community members and conducted Promotoras outreach efforts. Twelve latinas were selected for the taskforce from 15 applicants. Applicants had an average city residency of 13.6 years, 11 of the 12 members self-identified as Spanish being their primary language and five self-identified as being bilingual (English/Spanish). Over a six month period, monthly meetings were held in Spanish and explored various city topics that were of interest to the taskforce. The presentation outlines recommendations to build meaningful access to needed services and a pathway forward towards greater civic engagement in building a quality community for a lifetime in Commerce City for and with all community members.
City staff has begun to operationalize some of the recommendations within the report and will expand efforts in 2017.
Staff Responsible (Department Head): City Manager McBroom
Staff Member Presenting: City Manager McBroom & Cultivando's Director of Public Policy Alejandra Perez-Urkoski
Financial Impact: $TBD
Funding Source: General Fund
Staff Recommendation: N/A. For information and discussion purposes.
Suggested Motion: N/A