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Hispanics attend landscaping class

November 14, 2007

Spanish-speaking residents had an opportunity to learn more about landscaping and Best Management Practices in their native tongue at a meeting earlier this month in Kings Beach.

“There are almost 300 Hispanics working in construction in the North Lake area,” said Juan Luna, owner of Luna Enterprises, Inc. landscaping company.

Many of them speak limited English, he said, but they are responsible for building and installing much of the landscape and erosion control projects that are vital to keeping Tahoe blue.

Nearly half the residents in Kings Beach, for example, are Hispanic. To reach this population, John Cobourn, a water specialist with the Cooperative Extension office at the University of Nevada, Reno, organized a series of meetings in Spanish.

Cesario Serna and Jamie Perez-Syrs, who work for Associated Management, attended the meeting at the request of their boss.

“I understand BMPs, but I don’t know the details and want to learn more” Peres-Syrs said. They said they could see the direct link between BMPs and lake clarity, and both men said they learned a lot at the meeting.

Victor Valverde, who works for Alpine Customer Interior Service, remodels home interiors. While he doesn’t work with BMPs, he attended the meeting to gain more knowledge.

“It is important to have more information to get a better job,” Valverde said. “There’s not much information in Spanish. ”

Pamela Warman is an owner of a landscaping company in South Lake Tahoe. She came to the meeting to learn more, so she can teach others. She thinks there’s a lot of room for improvement in educating Hispanic community about landscaping issues.

“There’s a lot of Hispanics working in the construction,” Warman said. “I try to explain to those ones I work with why we’re doing this.”

Organizers believe it is hard to communicate the complex message of landscaping policies without good handouts in Spanish. Therefore, during the meeting, attendees were given folders explaining BMPs in Spanish.

“I believe there is information, but it is not getting to the Hispanic community,” Luna said.

Cobourn and Luna were co-teachers conducting meeting. This was the second three-hour class in Spanish. Four attendees, out of 13 who signed up, showed up. The first meeting, which took place in August, was attended by 14 people.

For more information about BMPs and defensible space training in Spanish contact:
Juan Luna 775-831-2684
John Cobourn 775-832-4144

Related posts: [ Juan Luna talks about BMPs ] [ Groups help resolve landscaping issues ] [ Community meeting to discuss solutions for BMPs - Live streaming video available ] [ Site set up to encourage Hispanic participation ] [ Community newspaper struggles to reach Hispanics ] 

Written by Kamila Pawlik · Filed Under Landscaping 

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