Recently released U.S. Census figures reveal a swell in Hispanic population during the 1990s in Evanston.

Evanston’s Hispanic population grew by 91 percent during the decade to 4,539 people, making them 6.2 percent of the city’s population. Nationally the Hispanic population has grown by 58 percent in the past decade. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that Hispanics, who may be of any race, total 35.3 million, or about 13 percent of the total population.

The surge in the Hispanic population was much greater than Evanston’s total population growth, which rose by only 1.4 percent to 74,239.

In response to the Hispanic population increase, Ald. Ed Moran (6th) said the city has made efforts to increase Hispanic representation in government.

“We’ll be working to develop a greater staff of diversity that can work with people of different backgrounds, who can represent and learn to be an in-between for the cultural differences,” Moran said.

At Moran’s suggestion, the council in 1994 established the position of Latino ombudsman, who serves as a liaison between the Hispanic community and the city. Aracely Canchola currently holds the position.

“The Hispanics in Evanston are the minority population the city focuses on most because of their need for language translation,” Canchola said.

Canchola provides translation services for three to four Hispanic families each month. She also has worked to implement programs such as an immigration workshop that was held at St. Nicholas Church in February.

Bilingual education also is a key issue for school districts nationwide. In Evanston/Skokie District 65, solutions include establishing a dual-language education program at Washington and Orrington elementary schools. The two-way program takes 12 primary Spanish speakers and 12 primary English speakers and conducts lessons in both languages.

Moran, who is seeking re-election on Tuesday, said the Evanston Police Department also is responding to the influx of Hispanics by teaching some employees to speak Spanish.

“We’re going to have to be responsive to all populations,” Moran said.

But Evanston still is composed primarily of whites, who make up about 65 percent of the city’s population. About 22 percent of residents are black and about 6 percent are Asian.

This was the first year the Census allowed people to identify themselves as members of multiple races. In Evanston, 3 percent of the remaining residents marked another race and another 3 percent described themselves by using two or more races.