Is Google Translate enough to reach Calistoga’s Spanish-speaking community?
When Calistoga will launch a city website that effectively communicates with its Spanish-speaking residents is still anyone’s guess. For the fourth year in a row, city leaders have debated how to improve language access, yet the only agreement so far is to rely on Google Translate.
Even that solution has drawn criticism, especially in a city where nearly 40% of the local households speak Spanish at home, according to the U.S. Census.
The new city website is slated to launch this fall and will continue to use Google Translate for all language services, Mayor Donald Williams confirmed.
“I have some Spanish, and my personal review of Google translations is that they are generally pretty good,” said Williams, who is not a fluent or native Spanish speaker. He added that residents needing further language assistance “should contact the city office directly.”
But critics argue that Google Translate falls short, especially when it comes to translating crucial city communications and council meeting materials that shape local decisions and impact all residents.
The U.S. Department of Justice, under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, mandates that agencies receiving federal funds must take “reasonable steps” to ensure meaningful access for limited English proficient individuals. As federal rollbacks and budget cuts under the Trump administration begin to affect Calistoga and the greater Napa Valley, local civic engagement has become increasingly critical.
“Language is access, and inclusion starts with communication,” said Councilmember Lisa Gift, who has repeatedly pushed for investment in a fully bilingual site. “I’ll keep advocating for tools that make it easier for all of our residents to feel seen, heard, and included in city government.”
Gift also said she has received an array of emails from community members relating to the implementation of a bilingual city website.
“Bilingual outreach has been an issue I will not let go of,” she said. The creation of an adequate bilingual city website, she said, “was kind of pushed off to the side many times when creating agenda items.”
Calistoga currently also does not provide interpreters at city council meetings, nor has it invested in modern AI-based translation tools that are gaining traction across Northern California. One of the fastest-growing platforms is Wordly, an AI translation service based in Los Altos. The company says its technology, already in use by multiple Bay Area agencies, offers real-time interpretation in 58 languages including Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Japanese.
Still, not everyone on the Calistoga council sees a need for investment in language access well beyond website services.
“Google Translate offers the best cost and benefit balance,” said Councilmember Kevin Eisenberg. “It is also the choice of other Napa Valley jurisdictions.”
Eisenberg’s statement is not entirely accurate. In 2023, the Napa County District Attorney’s office launched one of California’s only fully Spanish-language websites for a DA’s office, stating: “The ‘Google Translation’ of the English website is insufficient.”
Additionally, the Napa County Board of Supervisors now uses Wordly in its public meetings as part of a broader effort to improve language access and civic engagement.
Calistoga’s city council meetings are also conducted entirely in English, potentially limiting civic participation for about half of the community. When two Spanish-speaking residents spoke during public comment about the contentious issue of funding cuts to the Boys and Girls Club Teen Center last year, no formal translation services were available.
Vice Mayor Irais Lopez-Ortega, the only fluent Spanish speakers on the council, stepped in to offer a loose summary of their remarks. Relying on an elected official for ad-hoc interpretation, however, may raise concerns about accuracy and possible conflicts of interest. Lopez-Ortega was the only council member who did not respond to Napa Valley News Group’s request for comment.
Experts say Google Translate isn’t enough for cities to rely on when communicating with non-English-speaking residents, especially for critical civic information. The tool often mistranslates technical terms, lacks cultural nuance and doesn’t fully translate PDFs or public meeting materials, creating barriers to participation.
According to the Center for Civic Design, a nonprofit focused on equitable public communication, “Machine translation can’t replace the accuracy, accountability and trust that comes with human or AI-assisted interpretation.”
