http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/2393641.html

Today is Thursday, March 02, 2006
Originally published Thursday, March 02, 2006
Updated Thursday, March 02, 2006
'English first' law is explored by Hawthorne councilwoman
"Our signs in our city ought to reflect our English language," says Ginny Lambert, who wants to implement a policy that would regulate city displays' use of foreign phrases and characters.
By Doug Irving
Daily Breeze

The city of Hawthorne has begun crafting an English-first policy that would relegate all foreign languages to second billing on commercial signs.

The policy, still under development, would force ethnic businesses to rewrite their signs to include an English translation. Any other language could share the sign, as long as it appeared below the English.

Other cities have tried to regulate foreign-language signs, especially as they watched the English of their commercial districts give way to Asian characters and Spanish phrases. Those laws have not always made it past free-speech concerns raised in court.

"Our signs in our city ought to reflect our English language," said Hawthorne Councilwoman Ginny Lambert, who first raised the idea of a sign regulation. "We are Americans. We speak the English language here in this country."

Lambert said she decided that signs in the city needed to change after taking a drive past the markets and offices of Hawthorne Boulevard. She noticed a small medical building with a sign written in a language she didn't recognize and couldn't understand.

It bothered her that the sign didn't communicate to anyone who didn't speak the language. She cast her proposed new policy as a way to foster understanding among the melting pot of people who pass through Hawthorne.

She said she'd exempt ethnic restaurants from the policy. But otherwise, "English first."

"I don't care if they want to put another sign underneath," she added. "But in this country, English first."

Lambert tried to get her proposal onto this week's City Council agenda, but the city attorney suggested the Planning Commission take a look at it first. The commission could take several months to forward a recommendation to the full City Council.

Cities such as Torrance and Temple City have taken steps to ensure that stores at least identify themselves in the Roman alphabet most familiar to English speakers. Some have gone further, requiring that business owners reserve a good percentage of sign space for English.

Businesses in Torrance are supposed to post at least one sign with their name in Roman letters and their address in Arabic numbers. In Monterey Park, at least half of any business sign must be written in Roman letters.

"It's an issue of public safety," said Chris Jeffers, the city manager of Monterey Park. "If people saw something happening, they could at least say it's at ABC store."


A federal district judge knocked down a similar -- though not identical -- Pomona law in 1989. That law required that half of any business sign be in English, according to later legal reviews of the case.

The judge concluded that Pomona was unconstitutionally regulating the cultural expression of the sign owners. Its law, he wrote, discriminated against sign owners who used foreign alphabets and violated the First Amendment protection of free speech.

Hawthorne City Attorney Glen Shishido cited the Pomona case this week when he recommended that the city's Planning Commission review any sign regulations. "We need to be careful," he told the council.

Lambert let out an audible sigh. "I'd be happy to go to court," she told the attorney, "and argue this until I drop dead."