Court’s Hispanic outreach eases community concerns

After the Spanish mass at St. Patrick’s church on Sunday, April 23, hundreds of Hispanic locals stayed to hear what Supervising City Court Judge Richard McCord had to say. McCord, along with many county officials and bilingual community leaders spoke to the audience and answered any questions they had regarding services available to them at the court.

“I’m so pleased with the way it turned out,” said McCord. “I really believe everyone left with a good feeling about what we did, both the speakers and the people, so I was happy.”

According to McCord, since the forum five people came to the court to ask questions about concerns they had including parking tickets and crime issues. McCord said this is a great sign of progress.

“Actions speak louder than words,” McCord said. “The fact that they so quickly after the forum are stepping up and exercising the rights that they have available to them, I find it to be very remarkable and long overdue.”

Glen Cove Chamber of Commerce President Hender Alvarado also spoke in Spanish, which he said was greatly appreciated by the audience. “I think it went very successful,” Alvarado said. “People were very appreciative of the community and the leadership of the community coming together to and trying to help.” He noted that many people in the community were impressed and shocked from this initiative.

After the forum, residents were able to mingle with city and county officials in a more casual setting during a light breakfast provided by the Glen Cove YMCA.

McCord said he would like to hold another outreach forum in the future, as this one was clearly beneficial to both residents and public officials.