Local News in Brief : English Language Proposal Rejected
The Monterey Park City Council has rejected a proposal by Mayor Barry L. Hatch to study ballot measures that would require more English on foreign language commercial and business signs in the city.
Hatch is pushing for a referendum to mandate that at least two-thirds of the lettering on any sign be in English. He proposed that the city’s planning staff research options that could be presented to Monterey Park voters, where slightly more than half the population is of Asian ancestry.
The council voted 3 to 2 not to request a formal study of Hatch’s proposal, but Hatch on his own asked city staffers to study alternatives that could be put before voters.
A 1985 law, enacted after a series of bitter debates, requires that commercial signs in the city contain some English describing the general nature of a business.
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