MATTAWA, WASH — . -- Nearly everyone in this small farming community in eastern Washington speaks Spanish -- nearly everyone except those in city government and the Police Department, where English is spoken.
And almost everyone who speaks one language does not speak the other.
That language barrier has engulfed the community, which has grown over the last 20 years from 300 to about 3,200 year-round residents. Nine out of 10 Mattawa residents speak Spanish at home, and 8 out of 10 adults speak English "less than very well," according to the 2000 U.S. Census.
The Columbia River basin community, surrounded by miles of fruit orchards and vineyards, has tried to deal with its language barrier informally.
From the first gas station to the last retail shop, signs advertise goods and services in Spanish and English. The tiny library offers bilingual story time for families.
For years, police often relied on bystanders to translate at crime scenes. City administrators grabbed bilingual speakers as ad hoc interpreters.
But the gap between an English-speaking city government and an overwhelmingly Spanish-speaking population has grown so wide that the federal government has stepped in to mandate that the city bridge the divide.
After a legal aid group filed a Civil Rights Act complaint, the U.S. Department of Justice worked with the city and Police Department to develop a language assistance plan.
Adopted in March, the plan is unique in Washington and is seen as a bellwether for cities with similar demographics. The plan requires Mattawa to employ at least one bilingual employee during regular business hours and to make vital information available in Spanish as well as English. It also requires the police to have qualified interpreters on call at all times.
For a long time, the Northwest Justice Project knew that Mattawa police did not speak Spanish and did not use interpreters, said Judith Lurie, senior attorney for the group, which launched the federal complaint.
Then a call for help in a domestic violence case focused the issue.
Mattawa police allowed the suspect to leave the scene to find someone to interpret, Lurie said. The man never returned. The police had tried to use the couple's children as interpreters, but they were too traumatized by the fighting. Their terrified mother drove them 60 miles to a safe house.
