And the survey translates …

LYNNWOOD — Lynnwood Diversity Task Force members told the City Council recently it no longer has a choice to reach out to its diverse population.

“The demographics prove it, 77 cultures are represented in Lynnwood’s residents. The primary language of one out of three in Lynnwood is other than English,” said Pam Graham, the chairperson for the Lynnwood Diversity Task Force and program coordinator for the South Snohomish County Family Support Center.

In order to achieve its goal of building a sense of community that includes all Lynnwood residents and to diversify local leadership, the task force surveyed the residents of Lynnwood around cultural diversity issues in the community.

The task force mailed diversity surveys through utility bills to residents in fall of 2003 and distributed them to high school diversity groups and at the Multicultural Family Fair in April 2003. The survey was also published in the Lynnwood/Mountlake Terrace edition of Enterprise Newspapers. Of those, 347 surveys were returned.

Members presented the survey findings and made its recommendations to the City Council recently.

While they said they recognize the results are suggestive rather than scientific, the ethnic demographics of the survey reflected the 2000 census.

In the surveys returned, 34 percent didn’t know what diversity programs were already in place in their community.

Some suggestions to build multicultural relationships were to have “more functions and meeting places for youth, to have more cultural exposure at schools and to have programs to teach English.”

Some negative responses were that “immigrants should be ‘Americanized’ and learn English and that there should be a “Moratorium on immigration.”

A large percentage expressed a feeling that they weren’t heard by their community leaders.

When asked for suggestions about ways to foster community involvement, many respondents mentioned events that bring people together, having meetings and events in neighborhoods, having better ways of distributing information and help with transportation and childcare.

In order to accomplish some of these findings, the task force recommended that the city should hire a paid, part time diversity coordinator and allocate funds to cover base costs, sponsor community events to build neighborhood connections, support a diversity commission and create a unique community cultural event such as an event called “Lynnwood Cultural/Heritage Festival.”

They also recommended for city officials to provide training experience in cultural competency, convene local study circles and partner with other community organizations.

“We believe city government should make it a priority to make sure the cultural diversity of its residents is reflected in its leadership and services,” Graham said.

Mayor Mike McKinnon said Lynnwood has become a very diverse, interesting, culturally rich community.

“It is time we consider allocating our efforts, our energy and some of our budget to serving new areas of need and different portions of our community in ways other than what we have been used to.”

The task force recommended that city staff and elected officials get training in diversity issues, and that the city should more actively recruit qualified applicants of diverse racial backgrounds to its volunteer boards and commissions.

Because Lynnwood has grown to be quite a melting pot it was one of two cities chosen a couple of years ago by the Association of Washington Cities to promote racial justice and be a pilot program for the state. Omak is the other city chosen for the pilot program.

From that, Lynnwood formed the Diversity Task Force, which meets monthly and discusses ways to get more of the diverse population involved in city government and community while at the same time answering questions for those who might be fearful of the changes in the community.

The Lynnwood Diversity Task Force’s monthly meetings are from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month.

For more information about the survey or the task force call Robin Hall at 425-775-1971.

This article is part of the “Changing Faces” series. It is intended to take a small look inside different ethnic groups in Lynnwood, MLT and Brier. Story ideas for this series: Call Enterprise editor Shannon Sessions at 425-673-6531.