Thread: *HELP* Urgent Last VOTE-NASHVILLE!!!

T.J. Graham has been talking this up on his radio show all afternoon. The black community is ready to go. There will be a large showing at tonight's council meeting.

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index ... s_id=53520

Final vote on ‘English First’ bill expected tonight
By Bill Harless, bharless@nashvillecitypaper.com
December 05, 2006

The Metro Council tonight will take a final vote on the English First bill that would explicitly make English the official language of Davidson County.

The council narrowly approved the legislation on the second of three required readings Nov. 21 on a vote of 21-10, sponsor Eric Crafton garnering the minimum 21 votes he will again need tonight for the bill to pass. Of the 36 council members present, five abstained.

Crafton on Monday maintained that the public is adamantly in favor of the English First bill, judging from Internet polls taken by local newspapers.

“Opponents might try to paint this as mean-spirited and divisive, but pushing to have the government’s business done in any number of languages — that in and of itself creates division within the community, and it’s not a healthy situation,” Crafton said.

“Language is the common glue that holds the fabric of our society together, and if we don’t support our common language, then our country’s going to start coming apart at the seams.”

Crafton also said the bill has nothing to do with illegal immigration and that its purpose is simply to reinforce English as the traditional language of our government.

“The opponents of the bill want to try and tie this bill to illegal immigration and therefore pass it off to the federal government,” Crafton said, adding that he is not sponsoring the bill for political gain, as some have accused him. He noted he is not running for office this year, although said he is unsure whether he will run for a second council term next year. He said that some council opponents of the bill are using their opposition to garner political support.

Opponents of the measure will likely again turn out en masse at tonight’s meeting, Stephen Fotopulos, Policy Director for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said Monday.

“In the end, English-only legislation is bad for the language itself,” he said. “Immigrants understand the importance of learning English and integrating into our culture like every other generation, but if this ordinance is at all effective, it will further isolate the immigrant and refugee community and make it harder for them to learn English.”

Fotopulos said he agreed with Crafton that the bill is, ultimately, not about illegal immigrants.

“This bill targets all immigrants and refugees — it targets the Somali community and the Sudanese community, and the Kurdish community. … The Nashville residents who are calling saying this is great, they think it’s about illegal immigration, and that’s the problem,” Fotopulos said.

Both Crafton and a Metro Council staff attorney have said they believe the bill would simply ensure that business Metro already conducts only in English, such as Metro Council meetings, would not be done in other languages in the future. Opponents of the bill have said they think it will do nothing, legally, at all, calling it a symbolically divisive measure.

Metro Legal Director Karl Dean, asked at the last council meeting if the bill would have much effect within Metro, said it would not. Employees could broadly interpret the ordinance, Dean said.

COMMENTS:

By: exportlaw on 12-05-2006
When Singapore received its independence from Britain in the 60s, the government there decided to unite its truely diverse and antagonistic ethnic/linguistic groups - Chinese, Malay and Hindi, plus a few Brits - by making English the official language. Singapore has one of the most successful economies in the world. English proficiency is considered one of the skills necessary for the engineers and managers in the successful Asian economies. While this ordinance won't have much effect, perhaps it will at least keep some misguided metro bureaucrats from expending public money for translations, diverting money to the benefit of a single etnic group and protect the taxpayers from liability for poor translations. I recently encountered a notice from the health department advertising free pap smears that was all Spanish. There was no dual English text nor an English version notice. There are a number of "leaders" in the Latin American "community" who are trying to use public funds to recreate the patron/peasant community structure here. These semi-feudal structures undermine true democratic processes. At least if all government programs are conducted in English, they will be transparent to the vast majority of taxpayers.
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By: idgaf on 12-05-2006
Borders,Culture and language. Without those three you don't have a country (M Savage)

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By: negiti on 12-05-2006
I respectfully submit that "calling your councilman", while it s-h-o-u-l-d be an excellent idea, may not be the most effective use of time. RATHER, calling the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and letting them know that you will be on the lookout for member businesses, and that you either won't do business with them, or let them know about your disdain for the Chamber's position on this bill. I strongly suspect this is a matter of "money talking", and the "other" walking.

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By: skeptic1 on 12-05-2006
It might benefit any politicians who care about their constituents' to read the opinion polls and editorial comments in their local newspapers.

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By: negiti on 12-05-2006
BTW, both my parents came here from a foreign land. They learned to speak, read and write in the English language in less than 90 days, and became proficient in less than 6 months. I said PROFICIENT. I never spoke English to my father while he was alive in honor of his choices. He however read and wrote in English on a regular basis.

Originally Posted by TexasCowgirl

Everyone should email right now - alot of the council members are emailing me back immediately.

The "no" votes will ask you if you are a constituent - and the "yes" votes are sending thanks for the emails

TC

You're great
Thanx for the heads up!!!

and
THANK YOU EVERYONE for pitching in!

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From the Nashville City Paper..

Third times charm?
Do you think Metro Council will pass the English-only bill?

Yes 71%

No 16%

Difficult to say 13%

This is a comment from the above article. It points out how many of these people use the "No Speaka English" as an excuse to get away with things, in this case, going through the 15 items or less lane.

By: bfra on 12-05-2006
JTM - True Story: Hispanic lady at logal grocery goes thru express lane, no matter how many items in her cart. Checker tries to explain the process.No English replied several times. Hispanic gets a checker that is fed up with this happening. Taking her cart & trying to explain in hand language, moves it to a regular lane. This made the Hispanic lady very mad. You should have heard how much English this woman knew & used. It wasn't the kind you would want little ones to hear.¶ Just a true story that I witnessed, maybe it will make you stop & wonder!

GOFER!

Get us the final vote TONIGHT!! Waiting anxiously

GO NASHVILLE

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GOFER

any news?

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Done. Did this last night....

The final vote was postponed until Feb. Several council people were absent and efforts to table were defeated, so we are now back in a holding pattern. The same so-called "elites" are still opposed. Will post more news this afternoon.