Plans for helping ethnic groups hailed

The details of a new strategic plan to guide the state's Office of Ethnic Affairs have yet to be released, but the office's director says the plan is already moving forward.

Yvette Donosso Diaz, executive director of the Utah Department of Community and Culture, described the plan as "very ambitious" and "exciting."

It's about partnerships between the state's Asian, black, Hispanic and Pacific Islander offices and state agencies to build partnerships to help advance all the state's ethnic minority communities in areas such as education and economic development, she said.

"The ethnic affairs offices don't have a budget for programs," she said. "In a way, we're teaching state agencies how to do outreach."

A draft of the proposal, yet to be publicly released, was presented to the governor's office on July 1. Diaz said the draft is now about "95 percent ready to go" and should be released no later than mid-September. She said the ethnic offices have their work cut out for them in meeting the lofty goals, some of which could take up to two years.

However, some in the state's ethnic minority communities questioned why they had yet to be informed about the plan, originally set to be in place by June 30.

"I don't know what their plan is," said Betty Sawyer, president of the Ogden branch of the NAACP. "Right now we're all in the dark about what they're going to do, what they're chartered to do and how that will impact us."

Diaz said the plan involves feedback from 14 town hall meetings held around the state and meetings with city and county officials. There was also input from the state offices the ethnic affairs directors are partnering with and the ethnic advisory councils, she said.

"That's why it took 100 days-plus to do this. We wanted it to be inclusive," she said. "We also wanted to have it be meaningful and have good deliverables."

Asian Advisory Council member Needra Nanayakkara said the draft plan had "some very good ideas" but said solutions have been discussed before. "I hope we implement it," she said.

Gonzalo Palza, member of the Hispanic Advisory Council, said the draft plan lacks what he sees as essential — a blueprint for serving the state's undocumented immigrant population.

"I think it's a good attempt," he said. "But I'd like to see it accompanied by a clear policy with regards to the undocumented population."

While Diaz didn't release the plan in full, she did cite some examples of its goals, such as plans for a culturally competent statewide business forum to be held this fall in conjunction with the Governor's Office of Economic Development. The forum, she said, would cover issues from labor laws to accessing loans for future and current business owners.