Monterey Park Voids Stand for English as Official Language

After three hours of emotional debate by residents, the Monterey Park City Council unexpectedly rescinded a 4-month-old resolution that urged the adoption of English as the nation’s official language and called for stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

The 3-2 vote late Monday night was greeted by cheers and a standing ovation from most of the 150-member audience.

Councilman Cam Briglio, who voted for the resolution when it was passed in June, moved to rescind the measure after several speakers called it a divisive force in the city of 58,000, which is 40% Asian and 37% Latino.

Declaring that the lingering controversy should end, Briglio said he did not “want to divide the community anymore.” The English language issue, he said, can be settled on Nov. 4 when California voters decide the fate of Proposition 63, which would make English the state’s official language.

Mayor Voted for Repeal

Mayor G. Monty Manibog and Councilman Chris Houseman also voted for the repeal. Council members Barry Hatch and Pat Reichenberger, who supported the resolution in June, voted against repealing it.

“The resolution still lives in the voting booths,” Hatch said, referring to Proposition 63, which he predicted will be overwhelmingly approved. “How could a winning team feel bad about losing a scrimmage? This is just one phase.”

After the meeting, Houseman said the action “demonstrated the city’s ability to work out its problems without race riots. It’s been like a roller coaster with all the bumps. Now we are on the way to the smooth parts.”

Leaders from the Coalition for Harmony in Monterey Park presented the council with a petition signed by more than 4,500 people asking that the resolution be rescinded. The coalition was formed a year ago to fight an unsuccessful attempt to make English the official language of the city.

“I’m ashamed of the city,” Stan Krauthamer, a resident of Monterey Park for 27 years, told officials before the vote. “It’s becoming rather indecent to tell people how they are supposed to talk and act.”

George Ristic, a retired teacher, said the resolution would “return sanity back to the schools. We are failing to teach kids proficiency in English. Hispanics are the people who are suffering with so many dropouts from high school because they don’t speak English.”

When Hatch introduced the resolution in June, he said his intent was to draw attention to the burden that is imposed on taxpayers by illegal immigration. The resolution also denounced the efforts of the sanctuary movement to provide a haven for political refugees from Central America.

The resolution instructed the city’s Police Department to cooperate with immigration authorities. Police officials said that the council’s directive merely reiterated what was already city policy, which is to inform immigration officials when a suspected illegal alien is arrested on other charges, but not to seek out illegal immigrants.