Naming a County liaison in charge of outreaching to the Hispanic community is a proposal led by County Commissioner Dona Fiala, and explained by Executive Manager of Corporate Business Operations Tim Durham to a group of Hispanic leaders during a brainstorming session held on May 1st, 2015.
The proposed liaison is meant to replace the former Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board which after 23 years of existence was dissolved by the Board of County Commissioners last year. According to Durham, a staff liaison, would be a customer service-oriented solution that won't be limited by the Sunshine Law.
The County employee would be charged with directing members of the community in need of assistance to the proper office, entity or service provider. Moreover, the proposed officer would work on building relationships for the benefit of Hispanic residents with other County government agencies, the Media, Non-profit working for the Hispanic community, and other State or Federal agencies as needed.
The proposed liaison working as an employee would be an extra way for people to connect to County Government as community individuals, groups, and organizations will retain anyways their ability to addressing directly the Board of County Commissioners, as speakers or petitioners, as usual.
Hispanic Council President Andy Solis, and Vice President Luis Bernal, based on a survey to former HAAB members agreed that the Advisory Board was not the most effective solution, welcomed the proposed County liaison as an option that should be seriously explored, and offered the Council's continuous collaboration with the Board of County Commissioners to serve the Hispanic community.