Thread: C'ville sets vote on "official English"

C'ville sets vote on 'official English'
(http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/cour ... S1.article)

May 2, 2007

By Ben Lefebvre STAFF WRITER

CARPENTERSVILLE -- The village board ground through a smorgasbord of issues at its Tuesday meeting, dealing with trash, hookahs and official English.

At the behest of Trustee Judith Sigwalt, the board agreed to discuss and vote at its next meeting on a proposal to make English the official village language. Sigwalt and Trustee Paul Humpfer raised the issue of such an ordinance earlier this year, but this would be the first time the board officially deals with it.

Sigwalt and other supporters argued that cutting foreign language services, signs and literature from the village would "unify residents" and save the village money. Opponents have said it would marginalize immigrant residents who don't speak English as their first language and infringe upon their civil rights.

Hampshire passed a similar ordinance in April.

Village resident Paul Calusinski said there would be a march protesting the official English proposal within the next six weeks. Who would organize or participate in the march were not indicated before press time.

The village board also unanimously voted to adopt a "toter" system of garbage collection for residents.

According to the contract the village recently awarded Arc Disposal Company Inc. of Des Plains, residents should receive 95-gallon wheeled garbage bins and 65-gallon recyclable waste bins around August. They also will be allowed to throw out one large bulk item a week for pickup.

Humpfer, the chairman of the village's audit and finance committee, said the new contract came in at nearly $2 million less than those put out by other waste management companies, including that of the village's previous garbage company, Elgin-based Waste Management. Trustees said they thought the toters would help prevent trash from blowing through residential streets.

Trustees then voted a death-blow to the idea of hookah lounges in the village.

They said they decided to refuse a permit to Azeem Syed, who said he owns several of the water-pipe smoking lounges throughout the area, after the village planning and zoning commission declined to recommend amending the village ordinances to allow a such a lounge in Carpentersville.

make English the official village language

English is already the states official language. Do you have to now go town by town too?

ENGLISH IS our language here and i for one am quite damn tired of having to "push 1 for english" i CANNOT wait till Bush is out of office and we hire a REAL President with some balls to deal with this problem!

angf117 wrote:

i CANNOT wait till Bush is out of office and we hire a REAL President with some balls to deal with this problem!

Well, I guess that leaves Hillary out