BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Kern County Assessor-Recorder Jim Fitch has notified his employees that only 20 minutes a day should be spent on translating services for Spanish-speaking clients, and some Bakersfield movers and shakers are taking notice.

Fitch said he made this announcement because some of his employees came to him with concerns. The bilingual employees were having trouble getting their work done, because they were spending so much time translating at the front counter, Fitch said.

"Is that person going to spend the whole day at the counter doing Spanish interpreting, which that's what he wasn't hired to do, or is he hired to do appraising and try to get the values correct for all the people in Kern County?" asked Fitch.

A memo about the new rule made it to the desk of The Bakersfield Californian columnist Lois Henry. She researched the situation and wrote her Sunday column on the issue.

"If we want people who don't speak English and who are from another county to assimilate into our society, we shouldn't put up road blocks," Henry told Eyewitness News.

Henry said she believes every immigrant should learn English, but she also said that takes time.

During her research, Henry said she spoke with numerous people from the county offices. Some of them said Fitch was making this suggestion because, "He doesn't like to deal with the fact that some people haven't learned how to speak English."

Fitch said it has nothing to do with that, and that he is "not forcing English on people." The assessor said the issue comes down to funding and time.
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Voice your opinion by commenting below or e-mailing Californian columnist Henry at lhenry@bakersfield.com.