Great Bend City Administrator Kendal Francis’ next Kendal’s Koffee, a semi-regular forum giving the public an opportunity to ask questions about city happenings, will take a different approach, he told the City Council Monday night.
“This is a little bit unique,” Francis said. “It’s going to be kind of geared towards our Hispanic community.”
Another change is that it’s going to be at 1 p.m. Thursday, April 16. “So it’s not really a coffee since it’s not the morning,” he said.
“We have we’ll have a translator who will be working with me and translating everything that I have to disseminate into Spanish,” Francis said. The idea came about as a suggestion from community members at the last Kendal’s Koffee.
“I thought it was a great idea and so we’re going to move forward with it,” he said.
This time around, it will probably be a more centered around COVID-19, he said. “I think there’s a lot of maybe misunderstanding or uncertainty about what is happening with COVID-19, so I think the majority of it will target that.”
Again, like the last Kendal’s Koffee, it will be another Facebook Live event. The virtual format is a change for the gatherings made in response to social distancing requirements during the pandemic.
At the previous Koffee on April 1, Francis said the city’s website greatbendks.net translates all documents and text into Spanish and other languages through Google Translate. There are also brochures and flyers available.
Still, “we don’t do enough,” he said in April 1. “I apologize for that.”
He said the city is making a conscious effort, not only with COVID-19 but also everywhere else, to reach Spanish-speaking residents. “It’s something we haven’t done as well as we could have, and that’s my responsibility and we’re going to do better.”
The city also has a translator on staff. At the Front Door facility, an employee there is bilingual and can translate as well.
“If you know people who are struggling through this, let us know,” he said. Anyone with questions can call the city at 620-793-4111.
