City’s Legal Notices Unlikely to Be Seen
* The residents and voters in the city of Oxnard are being denied access to important information by the City Council.
The council recently selected a Spanish-language newspaper to run its legal notices, supposedly because that newspaper was the low bidder for the contract. It is now possible for the city to place a notice of a zoning change or a special meeting of the council, and the vast majority of voters would never see it.
Even though the notices are printed in both English and Spanish, it is obvious that most English-speaking citizens are not going to pick up the Spanish-language newspaper to look for these notices. The City Council has complied with the letter of the law, but certainly not with the intent of the law.
While Article III, Section 6 of the California Constitution states that English is the official language of the state, it also states that the Legislature and officials of the state of California shall take all steps necessary to ensure that the role of English as the common language of the state of California is preserved and enhanced. The Constitution also provides for citizens to sue in order to enforce this section. Hopefully, this will not be necessary.
We call upon the City Council to rectify this affront to their citizens and do the right thing by placing all public notices in an English-language newspaper.
JERE ROBINGS
Ventura
Jere Robings is president of the Ventura County Alliance of Taxpayers.
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