VENTURA COUNTY NEWS : Critic of English-Only Resolution Is Invited to Address City Council

The mayor in this heavily Latino city has made a first move toward repealing a 14-year-old English-only resolution that has embittered many residents.

In inviting the local Latino activist who called for the repeal to speak at the next Fillmore City Council meeting, Mayor Evaristo Barajas underscored his earlier statements favoring a repeal.

Barajas said Friday that the council will not hold a vote at the Sept. 14 meeting. Instead, members will listen to activist Ramon Rodriguez’s argument for the repeal, along with the opinions of others who attend.

During the meeting, however, it is “very possible” Barajas will ask for staff to place the issue on a future agenda for a vote, he said.

It’s unclear how the council would vote. Since Rodriguez called for the repeal in a letter to Barajas last month, two council members said they favor the repeal, one said he does not, another has declined to comment and the fifth said he is undecided.

In 1985, Fillmore became the first city in the nation to pass an English-only resolution, meant to quell the anxieties of parents whose English-speaking children were being forced to attend bilingual classes.

The resolution, one sentence long, has no enforceable provisions, but sent a message many of the city’s 13,000 residents found offensive.

In his letter to Barajas last month, Rodriguez also called for the council to consider switching from an at-large election system to a district system, as the U.S. Department of Justice is pressuring the neighboring city of Santa Paula to do.

Justice officials say a district system could empower Latinos in Santa Paula, saying their voting strength in certain pockets of the city is diminished by the current at-large system because white votes outnumber those cast by Latinos.

Latinos make up the majority of Santa Paula residents but are a minority in terms of citizens who can vote.

While Rodriguez also will be invited to speak on that issue, Barajas, who is Latino, has said he is not in favor of Fillmore moving to district elections. No City Council members in Fillmore have spoken out in favor of such a shift, although Councilman Don Gunderson said Friday he has asked city staff to compile statistics to help the council understand citywide demographics and voting patterns.

Barajas said he has heard little interest in the issue from residents. Because the Justice Department is not believed to be investigating Fillmore, Barajas said, “I’d say at this point districting is a very low priority.”