Candidates back Latino advisory board, bilingual outreach and in‑place engagement to boost Latino participation

Candidates at the Sopra Sun forum described steps and ongoing work to include Carbondale's Latino community in local decisions, emphasizing outreach strategies and structural supports.

Chris Hassig and others credited Trustee Christina Montemayor with helping create a Latino advisory board and said that board has already provided practical feedback on parks, signage and transport projects. "We've heard about recreation...feedback about the downtowner and cycle and transportation projects in town," Hassig said, noting the advisory board's value.

The nut graph: Candidates emphasized active, in‑place engagement (going to parks, holding Spanish-language meetings, using WhatsApp and ReachWell messaging) alongside translated materials and interpretation for meetings to lower barriers to participation.

Erica Sparhawk said the town is working to meet community members where they are and reiterated the forum would be available with Spanish interpretation and YouTube subtitles arranged by the town clerk. Candidates said bilingual emails and social posts have become standard and that outreach timing and venue (weekend parks vs. weekday town-hall evenings) matter for accessibility.

Practical suggestions included more frequent interpretation services, using WhatsApp where the Latino community is active, and holding open houses in parks or on weekends. Candidates also described the Latino advisory board as a model for improving engagement and said such outreach tends to benefit overall public participation.

What's next: Candidates recommended continued bilingual communications, planning events at community hubs, and using targeted outreach tools. No new policy mandate was proposed at the forum; the discussion centered on outreach and implementation improvements.