[lg policy] Frederick County, Maryland: English-only ordinance leads to fierce debate

Fri Jul 24 15:00:36 UTC 2015

English-only ordinance leads to fierce debate at Frederick hearing
By Elizabeth Koh July 22

Frederick County is rethinking its controversial “English-only” ordinance,
which catapulted the rapidly diversifying exurb into a national debate over
immigration when the law was adopted three years ago.

A bill to repeal the law was introduced last month by two of the three
Democrats on the County Council and debated Tuesday night at an emotional
hearing that lasted 3 1 /2 hours. More than 50 residents and visitors
testified, with proponents of a repeal saying the ordinance has damaged the
Maryland county’s reputation and opponents insisting that it encourages
non-English speakers to assimilate.

The ordinance “harks back to a segregated past,” said Dominique Marsalek,
28, of Frederick. “Diversity does not need a parent to monitor its growth.”

Using English as the county language “is just normal,” countered Denise
McKenna, who lives in the town of Emmitsburg. “Where would it not be in
America?”

The law that made English the official language in Frederick, 40 miles
northwest of the nation’s capital, is mostly symbolic: State and federal
laws still require bilingual government forms and other services in many
cases, and the ordinance itself allows exemptions for health and public
safety reasons.

Its passage was nevertheless hailed by residents who were wary of the
county’s growing immigrant population — and decried by those who said the
law would drive away non-native English speakers and make the county appear
intolerant.

The law was approved by an all-Republican board of commissioners, which has
since become a council made up of three Democrats and four Republicans. In
2012, residents voted to transition the county to the more expansive form
of government, in part because of the booming population that has
transformed the county’s needs and demographics.

Council member Jessica Fitzwater (D), who was elected to the council in
November and is a co-sponsor of the measure to repeal the ordinance, said
the law “sends a clear message of intolerance” and could discourage
businesses from working or staying in the county.

Some residents disagreed. “If we were any more welcoming, we wouldn’t have
room to build another house” in the county, said F. James Field of
Monrovia. “I think we’re doing just fine.”

Sara Movahed, who is weighing whether to open an immigration law firm in
Frederick, said she was carefully watching the outcome of the debate over
the bill. The current law could drive away potential clients, she said.

Many on both sides of the debate invoked ancestors who had immigrated here
and struggled to adapt to a new country.

“If my family had not learned English, they could not have succeeded in
this country,” said Robert Vandervoort, director of ProEnglish, an
Arlington-based nonprofit organization that opposes the bill. “Learning
English is part of America’s melting-pot tradition.”

Vandervoort’s group mailed letters and placed robo-calls to county
residents before Tuesday’s hearing, urging them to speak out against the
bill.

But Frederick resident Jay Mason said the English-only ordinance was
isolating and reminded him of his father-in-law’s life at the height of the
Jim Crow laws.

“They had to walk around and see lots of signs that said ‘Whites only,’ ”
said Mason, who is African American. “The word ‘only’ speaks un-acceptance.”

Others invoked their own experience. Maria Diana Sanchez Gonzalez, a
Spanish speaker who testified through an interpreter, told the council that
Frederick was her home, too.

“There are Latin stores, Latin food and people speak Spanish,” she said. “I
think I have the right to have respect for my culture.”

The bill, which will be voted on next month, was hotly contested among
council members. Billy Shreve (R) and Kirby Delauter (R) spoke against
repealing the ordinance.

“We’re all probably going to be speaking a different language if we don’t
get this country back on track,” Delauter said.

To Fitzwater, Shreve said: “I haven’t heard anyone say the ordinance was a
problem.”

As the clock ticked past 10 p.m., the hearing room emptied. Among the few
who remained were Movahed, the aspiring lawyer, and her boyfriend, who
plans to open the immigration practice with her.

Bud Otis (R), chairman of the council, noticed the young couple sitting in
the back and urged them to consider opening their business in Frederick,
regardless of the bill’s fate.

“Don’t let it discourage you,” he said of the debate’s heated rhetoric.
“It’s a great place to do business.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/english-only-ordinance-leads-to-fierce-debate-at-frederick-hearing/2015/07/22/0826cafa-306d-11e5-8353-1215475949f4_story.html

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