ON THIS PAGE:
08-23-2008: Gorena's overview of the
08-18-2008 Council meeting discussion of Lewisville translating city
documents.
09-16-2008: Watch the Video portion of the
Council meeting on this topic.
10-02-2008 - The Agenda for 10-06-2008 is available
10-03-2008 - WFAA Channel 8 runs a news story on the subject.
10-04-2008 - In the News
about the 10-06-2008 council meeting
10-05-2008 - Channel 4 runs the story in three versions - See the Videos.
10-06-2008 - The Council is not for declaring that English is the Official Language.
Voting Poll: Give your opinion
08-23-2008: Lewisville Translating
Documents Discussion or should it be making English the Official
Language Discussion?
There were three of us that showed
up to the City Council meeting on 08-18-2008 to oppose translating
into other languages. Two of us spoke and one filled out a card.
First read the
Newspaper Article online
or the
PDF version.
OK, Let me start from the beginning.
Councilman Lathan Watts brought this topic up to the City Council to
discuss making a policy about what gets translated to other
languages. The points that he related were very modest and
basically limited to the cost of translating and the fact that it
would open the door to having to translate more documentation in
other languages.
Watts did not really propose that English be the Official language for the
City of Lewisville. He stopped short of making that
statement. However, I suggested that Lewisville make English
the Official Language when I spoke.
According to the
list of
translated documents offered by the City of Lewisville, the City
currently voluntarily offers 11 translated documents and are required to offer
another
14 translated documents.
- Here were my talking points when I spoke that night:
- I stated that I am an American of Hispanic heritage.
I am bilingual. To speak more than one language is a
blessing on a personal level but it divides us as a
community and a nation if everyone cannot speak the same
language.
- [I wish I thought of it at the time but the story of
the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 shows the consequences of people
that speak different languages. It divided them
and split them. This was a punishment from God to
make them spread out over the world which they were not
doing.]
- I asked the Council to make a statement that English is
the Official language of Lewisville.
- I asked the Lewisville City Council to not translate
anything except those documents required by law. I do
not like this law but it is the law and therefore do it.
- If we continue to have Multi-languages without a common
language, then it
contributes to the division of the community.
- It does not encourage people to learn English thus those
who do not learn English may never become integrated into
our society.
The other speaker was Susan Davis-Duarte
who spoke of coming to the USA and then sponsoring her own children
to immigrate to this Country. She talked about the importance
of speaking English. She did speak a little about illegal
aliens and that translating makes it easier for them.
[Speaking to her later, we both stated that we are concerned that
non-English speaking people will never elevate in society. Nor
could they become citizens without learning English - a requirement
for immigrants to become a citizen.]
During the Council discussion, FIVE of
the Six members of the Council did not really agree with Lathan Watt's
proposal of limiting the translation of documents. In fact,
councilman Rudy Durham basically called us racists for wanting to
stop translating into other languages. This fired up Watts (who
was very civil and controlled his anger). I was sitting next
to Duarte and asked, "Did he call us racists?" and she
replied, "Yes, but against what race?" Neither one of us
mentioned race except our own heritage and her legal immigration
status.
- I broke normal protocol and interrupted to ask if I could
address this remark from Durham.
Here were my points:
- I stated that I mentioned my race to try and stop people
using the racist comment. [I wanted to say that I am a lighter skinned
American-Hispanic and I guess I was called racist because I
was not dark enough. I am just guessing here because I do
not know how else to take it.]
- It does not matter what a person looks like and only speaks one language. I mention my
heritage
because it is a perception that it is easier for me to get
the point across if I mention I am not exactly Anglo.
Again, it does not matter what race you are - everyone
should speak up.
- It is not racist to want English as the Official
language.
- I can see the point of having staff that speaks other
languages which is useful in the Fire and Police departments
when dealing with the public. [But doesn't translating
the information bring up some personal liabilities to the
staff? The Laws in this Country are in English aren't
they?]
TAKE ACTION:
What we need is a room full of Lewisville Citizens
at the City Council meetings
that want to make English the Official language in Lewisville. If you do
not live in Lewisville, show up anyway and be another "banana in the bunch".
Not as a crazy person but at least let them know that this makes you go bananas
- attend, speak or fill out a card.
We need Lewisville Citizens to show up at every
meeting and make statements or fill out cards to make English the Official Language.
Continue coming to every meeting until they vote on it. Tell them not to
table the issue which they may do if they do not want to discuss it. If
they table it, they will address it when the issue dies down.
The
City Council meetings are on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the Month (moved where there is a holiday
- See the
City of Lewisville Calendar for scheduled meetings.) The
newspaper article stated that they would discuss this in the 1st October meeting
(10-6-2008) but it was mentioned to me that they will address this in the September 15
meeting also.
Again, Lewisville Citizens need to come to every meeting until a decision is
made to make English the Official language. If you don't show up then I am
just the lone banana.
That's the way I see it.
John Gorena.
09-16-2008 - Watch the Video online
I have gotten many requests on how to watch the video from the City on the
discussion for this Lewisville translating issue. Here it is :
First, I want to apologize about not being the best speaker.
The two of us that spoke learned of this issue being on the agenda about an hour
before we spoke. Not much time to prepare. I think we did OK.
10-02-2008 -
The
Agenda for 10-06-2008 is available. It appears that
the meeting is going to be a long one. They put the most
controversial issues on the end. I am not trying to discourage
citizens from attending. By all means, All of you should be
there and I encourage you to also attend as many council meetings as
you can.
- Item 15. Tabled Item: Discussion of Policy Related to Translations of
City Publications and Communications (Requested by Deputy Mayor Pro Tem
Watts).
- Item 16. Consideration of a Resolution Establishing English as the
Official Language of the City of Lewisville (Requested by Deputy Mayor Pro
Tem Watts).
10-03-2008 - WFAA Channel 8 runs a news story on
the subject. You can
watch the Video until they take it offline. The
Text/transcript is
online or our
PDF version.
- The person they interviewed is offended by the desire to make English
the Official Language. But I wonder, was he offended when El Cenizo, Texas
(you-tube video here) made Spanish their official language?
10-04-2008 - In the News about the 10-06-2008 council meeting
where this topic will be discussed.
10-05-2008 - Channel 4 runs the story in three
versions - See the Videos.
- Lewisville, TX Considers English as Official Language Ver 1. Aired on
10-05-2008, at 5:00 PM broadcast.
See Version 1.
This is the shortest.
- Lewisville, TX Considers English as Official Language Ver 2. Aired on
10-05-2008, at 5:30 PM broadcast.
See Version 2.
A little longer and more information.
- Lewisville, TX Considers English as Official Language Ver 3. Aired on
10-05-2008, at 9:00 PM broadcast.
See Version 3.
Revamped and has other video.
10-06-2008 - The Council is not for declaring that English is
the Official Language.
Those that oppose Lewisville declaring
English as the Official Language are using the term "English Only"
and this is not what this is all about.
- Quick Overview: Thank you for those of you that attended. It was a packed room. The
other side of the issue out numbered us physically but there were more
people who filled out cards and spoke in favor of this declaration. I
am very disappointed that we did not have more supporters. Many of the
people that told me that they would be there did not show up. The
other side was filled with a bunch of hateful mean people that said they
opposed that English be the official language. They did a lot of name
calling and comparing to racist groups. Our side did not do name calling
although I stated that the name calling was racist in itself. LULAC
was there and I suspect that they brought a few people too. The funny
thing to me was that the LULAC representative stated they care about all
races - that was a lie of course. Their organization is only about
Latinos hence the name.
Watching the news casts that we taped did not reveal
that we wanted to declare English as our Official Language. Most
changed it to English Only. I want to also clarify what the news casts are
saying. Most news stories say that the Council voted against making
English our Official language. Technically, what the council really did was
vote that they were not going to vote on it. Maybe that means the same thing
– it does to me. Only Lathan Watts wanted to have an official vote.
- On Item 15 about translating documents. They voted to leave that the
same. They will continue translating what they feel is necessary to whatever
language they feel is necessary. They presented that the City on spends
about $400 a year on the printing of these documents per year. It is not the
point but they made it seem negligible. I would have thought it was a
lot more considering that they pay people to translate, etc... Again,
not really the point.
- Item 16. Making English the Official language. This was more of a
symbolic gesture to say that we recognize English as the Official Language
and that we will do business in English. The Exceptions would have allowed
them to still translate what they wanted to translate. They brought in the
current mayor of Oak Point, Texas who was against ever having the resolution
saying that it divided and caused problems for their City. Not from what I
hear. I am not sure of this but I understand that he was not the Mayor
at the time of the resolution in Oak Point - can anyone verify???
-
Lathan Watts gave a fantastic speech (YouTube Video). {If you
have a slow internet connection, then I recommend that you pause the
video and let some of it download before listening.}
- The other councilmen did not like the idea of this resolution.
- Lathan Watts wanted them to vote for it or not but they would not
second the motion. Another Council member made a motion to not vote on
it and Lathan Watts was the only one with the courage to vote against not
voting on it. He wanted everyone to take a stand on this issue:
For or Against.
My thoughts are that we really should have been
there in large numbers and we were not. In either case, Two of these
Council members are up for election every year. Make your vote count.
It would have been nice to have a City Council that
recognizes the importance of promoting America’s values and patriotism. However,
Lathan Watt’s is the only one that feels the way that I do.
Thanks the way I see it,
John Gorena
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