The Voice of Latinos is Important to Anchorage
“The voice of Latinos is important to Anchorage. We need to establish a fluid dialogue with them,” Assemblywoman Erin Baldwin Day tells Sol de Medianoche in Spanish. “I want to talk to the Latino community in whatever language they choose, English or Spanish, to hear their concerns.”Erin Baldwin represents District 4 on the Anchorage Assembly. She is vice chair of the Infrastructure, Business, and Public Services Oversight Committee and a member of the Economic and Community Development Committee, among other municipal government roles.
“There is also not much Latino participation in the Assembly, although they are very involved in community life. I hear very little from them, yet their perspective is very important to the city. I understand that Latinos are reluctant to speak up if they are not fluent in English, as was the case for me in Venezuela when I learned Spanish through immersion.” “The importance of the Latino community and its economic impact on Anchorage is not sufficiently valued, and this needs to be corrected,” Erin Baldwin continues. “We need to change the mindset and culture, and this starts with educating children in schools. But this discourse is of little use in the classroom if children hear something different at home.” “However, the future of Anchorage could be very different if the public authorities listened more to the voices of those affected by the city’s problems, such as the lack of housing, which is the most serious issue at the moment. If we don’t listen to families in need of access to housing, the city becomes poorer, because even if our children want to live in Anchorage, they won’t be able to afford a home, and that hurts me as a citizen and as a mother of two children.” Erin Baldwin and District 3 Assemblymember Anna Brawley are organizing meetings with Anchorage residents to discuss “Our Municipality, Our Taxes,” so that citizens “know how the public budget is managed. It’s not a debate. It’s a presentation and explanation of how the administration of our money works,” says Erin Baldwin. |