Judge Upholds Foes of ‘Official English’ Vote

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that the City of Monterey Park acted legally when it refused to place a measure on the April, 1986, ballot declaring English the city’s official language.

The judge’s decision ended a five-month dispute over the controversial ballot initiative, but proponents of the measure quickly announced plans for a new petition drive to limit Chinese-language commercial signs. And the mayor said he would continue to push mediation efforts aimed at reducing tensions that have divided the ethnically diverse community along racial lines.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Jack T. Ryburn held that city officials were legally justified when they refused last month to accept a petition signed by more than 3,300 residents asking that an “English-as-the-official-language” initiative be placed before voters in next April’s municipal elections.

The city refused to process the petition as an initiative, saying it was faulty because it did not contain the full text of the proposal. Supporters of the measure, arguing that the city had seized upon a technicality, filed a lawsuit seeking to force Monterey Park to process the signatures and place the measure on the ballot.

In a written ruling, Ryburn said the defect was so fundamental that the petition never achieved “substantial compliance” with legal requirements.

‘Protect the Integrity’

“I’m very pleased. I think the court did what it had to do to protect the integrity of the initiative process,” said City Atty. Richard Morillo.

“Technicality in the law is the last refuge of scoundrels,” Frank Arcuri, a studio photographer and principal proponent of the measure, said of the decision. “The petition was designed to be a symbolic policy statement. I’ve achieved my goals by forcing the city to confront the issue.”

Arcuri, who announced his candidacy for the City Council to reporters gathered outside the court chambers, said he would not appeal the decision. Instead, he said, he will launch a new petition drive to restrict Chinese-language signs while helping gather signatures for a statewide measure seeking to establish English as the official language of California.

Although its effect would have been largely symbolic, the local English language measure had become something of rallying point for longtime Monterey Park residents angry over an Asian influx that has brought profound changes to their community. More than 40% of the city’s 60,000 residents are Asian, compared to 15% in 1970. Supporters of the measure said immigrants from Taiwan and Southeast Asia have created an insular community within the city and show little desire to integrate.

Much of the resentment has centered on Chinese-language business signs that dot the city’s commercial streets.

“It looks like a foreign country,” said Clifford Sharp, a supporter of the measure who attended the court hearing. “You don’t feel like it’s your community anymore, like you belong here. They just took the city away from the citizens of Monterey Park.”

Although he said he is pleased by the court ruling, Mayor Rudy Peralta said the English-language petition drive has caused a rift in the community that must be repaired.

Peralta has backed efforts by the U.S. Justice Department’s Community Relations Service in San Francisco to bring the two sides together in an attempt to ease the tension. Those efforts were dealt a setback two weeks ago when Arcuri said he would not attend a second meeting with elected officials and Asian community leaders.

“We haven’t given up on the mediation process despite Mr. Arcuri’s decision to drop out,” Peralta said.