Nashville Rejects English-Only Measure

Opponents feared the change would put up a 'go away' sign in the city where 1 in 10 residents are foreign born and international businesses keep the economy humming.

Modern-day Nashville is a city that thrives as much on global trade as it does on its trademark twang. So for many business and government leaders, it was a great relief Thursday night when voters rejected a ballot measure that would have limited local government to conducting its business in English.

The proposal sparked debates familiar to many American communities -- about the need for immigrants to learn English, for example, and the cost of translation services in a community where as many as 1 in 10 residents are foreign-born.

But opponents also focused heavily on the damage the measure could do to Nashville's image. I

n recent years, the city famous for its country music industry has also attracted hundreds of international companies and seen a surge of legal and illegal immigrants from Latin America, Africa and Asia. At the same time, it has strived to market itself in a more cosmopolitan way:

About five years ago, Nashville changed its nickname from "Music City U.S.A." to "Music City" -- because "the 'USA' seemed to link us more with the 'Hee Haw' brand," explained Butch Spyridon, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau president.

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“Spyridon was one of a number of public officials who cheered the defeat of the English-only measure, saying it was “not who we are as a city, or as a community. . . . It’s a creative community, and it’s a diverse community.”

Business owners like Tom Oreck concurred. “One of my great concerns about this was the message it would send — one that took down the ‘welcome’ sign and put up a ‘go away’ sign,” said Oreck, chairman of Nashville-based Oreck Corp., the vacuum-cleaner manufacturer. “I feel that that could have really hurt Nashville’s ability to grow in a healthy fashion.”

Nashvillians have been debating the merits of an English-only law since September 2006, when Eric Crafton, a member of the city-county council, introduced the idea in a bill.

In 2007, Crafton told The Times that he was motivated by “pent-up frustrations” over illegal immigration. He also said he wanted to encourage immigrants to learn English, and save money by having government business conducted in one language.

The bill was approved by the council in 2007 but was vetoed by then-Mayor Bill Purcell, who said it would make the city “less safe, less friendly and less successful.”

The idea was resuscitated as a ballot measure that would have amended the city-county charter so that all meetings and communications were in English. It allowed the council to make exceptions “to protect public health and safety.”

On Thursday, voters rejected the measure 41,752 to 32,144, in the largest turnout for a special election in more than a decade, according to Ray Barrett, elections administrator for Davidson County.

The measure was opposed by some of the most powerful forces in town — including the Chamber of Commerce, the Visitors Bureau, church leaders and the current mayor, Karl Dean.

Some opponents argued that the law would punish not only illegal immigrants, but the large number of legal refugees from Somalia and Iraqi Kurdistan who have changed the flavor of the city in recent years.

They also pointed out that city legal experts said the measure, if passed, may have run afoul of federal law, and entangled the city in costly lawsuits.

Another turnoff for some voters: the election cost the city $270,000 to $300,000, according to Barrett.

Anthony Roberts, a real estate agent, said he voted for the measure but was upset about the expense.

“I’m for the English first,” he said, “but I wasn’t for the special election.”

A number of opponents spoke Friday about the defeat as a bullet dodged for the business community.

John Butler, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s vice president for international business, noted that 206 foreign-owned companies were operating in the area, providing about 34,000 jobs. Their presence — in addition to help from a robust healthcare industry — helped the metro area avoid a net job loss last year. (Butler said metro Nashville gained 3,300 jobs from January to November of 2008, a 0.4% increase from the same period in 2007).

Many of the companies are Japanese and German auto parts firms that set up shop in recent years to supply the car factories that have sprung up across the Southeast.

These days, Butler said, Nashville is courting Chinese manufacturers and has a leg up on other cities, because even the Chinese know Nashville for its music.

“But then you start to sour that with English-only, and all the connotations that brings,” he said.

The article in the non-postable Gannet rag's site "The Tennessean" ignited a literal crapstorm of argument in posted comments between liberals and conservatives (375 and still going since 4 AM). The liberals are generally insulting and emotional while the conservative side had more than its fair share of bad spellers and vociferous jingoism (NOT helping, folks).

The liberal side was very conspicuous by so many posting from out of state and hanging on for hours while indulging in every manner of insult disparaging Southern culture. While that stuff slides down my back like dew off a duck's back the obnoxious liberals were truly running amok; still stoned from whatever was going around at the Inauguration.

To have no sense is a reflection of one's self. To have no class is a reflection of your parents. Or being a tool of Soros.

I was just pulling your chain a bit to check your sense of humor.

Those guys were right. There is a definitive effort from some central point infiltrating public forums coming from the Soros entities. They let the usual ijits ramble but pop up whenever a rational argument against socialism dares to arise. The SOBs give themselves away by being so determined to have the last word while arrogantly using smears and demeaning language.

If you had a billion dollars and a million clueless yet verbose drones how would YOU use them?

If this is a trend across forums all across the nation we have the answer to where Soros has been pumping all that money to.

Traitors who buy into “Progressiveness” like Chinese getting their Little Red Books. Soros does it the sick cult way by working his way from patriotism down to their weaknesses.

Look at what’s now: the socialists have had a solid game plan for about 12 years now with a sugar daddy providing a near-limitless supply of funding.

Conservatives have been fighting the party they’ve cleaved to while that party’s most influential (dare I say practical) members moved the Republicans to where the Democrats used to be back in the 1970s. The Republican’s effort to bring in Neo-Dems for the last two decades has weakened it to an ineffectual entity unable to withstand the cult of personality known as Obama.

That and buying into “white guilt”, fear of being called racist and general gutlessness. Fear seems to be the primary trait of the modern Republican. Note Tennessee’s radical change from a Democrat to a Republican House after 100-something years. Did they stomp proudly? NO! They installed a Rep stage dummy with the former Dem leader’s fist up his butt moving his mouth.

If the Republican Party has become an ineffectual prison punk holding onto the pocket of it’s Democrat “yard daddy” it’s time to retire it for a NEW party that has a pair. We’ve had this problem of two parties actually being one for some time now - and that megaparty works for the interests of it’s contributors over the people who vote for it’s flavors.

What is astonishing is that for 26 of the last 28 years, the GOP has either been in control of the executive & legislative branches (or both), but yet during that period, we’ve overall lurched further to the left than we’ve ever been. The bailouts and takeovers alone on the economic front are so bad that we now make the Chinese look like right-wing laissez-faire’rs, and probably even the old Soviets. Was it Norman Thomas that said Socialism could never be implemented under its name, but take a few decades enacting it under the guise of simple “liberalism,” and all its goals could be achieved. They have... and then some.

I was seeing yesterday an obituary for a NY Assemblywoman, a RINO, who was the co-sponsor for the legalization of infanticide in the state, which she helped to narrowly pass, and the Assembly Speaker, also a RINO, voted for (with a key vote being provided by a Democrat from a heavily Catholic and Conservative district). It seems like our own party has gone a long way in slicing our own throats. And what did it get us in NY ? The district the lady represented was Ithaca, which is now so far-left it is synonomous with moonbattery. That Assembly Speaker couldn’t get elected Governor, and he was the last Republican that might ever serve as Speaker of that body. And, of course, the Democrats collected all the rewards.

You may very well be right that it is time for a new party, but even if we formed one, we’d still probably end up with a lot of the gutless weasels, wimps, and ankle-grabbers we have in the GOP. Maybe it’s that even the well-intentioned people are simply too nice, too Christian, to go for the jugular. They don’t have the killer instinct our Democrat friends have. But ultimately, they may get all the power on earth at the cost of their souls, while we inherit whatever lays beyond (and we’d better hope there is something beyond, or we really were doing nothing more than wasting our time). Of course, I think the Lord still wants us to get up and fight. It’s just a matter of remembering that if we do win, we not ever forget why we got there and to press on without apology in doing the right thing... because we HAVE nothing to apologize for, except for failure to fight.

“.Did they stomp proudly? NO! They installed a Rep stage dummy with the former Dem leader’s fist up his butt moving his mouth.”

Well the rats and himself installed said RINO. There only fault was not expelling the liberal bastard from the party long ago. Cause that wouldn’t have been nice.

“I was seeing yesterday an obituary for a NY Assemblywoman, a RINO,”

I saw that. I had no idea it passed so narrowly and that it might have influenced the court.

That thing with loyal Catholic rat voting no until his vote was needed is called “catch and release”. At least he lost.

Imagine that, sacrificing your career in the name of abortion.

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