Residents of Monterey Park, Calif. are less than thrilled with the city’s new mandate about bilingual signage.
According to the new rule, businesses in the predominantly Chinese-American city must put up at least one sign that uses the “modern Latin alphabet,” including letters A through Z and numbers 0 through 9. The term “modern Latin alphabet” was used because it’s considered unconstitutional to require them to be written in English, according to the Pasadena Star-News.
The city council, which put forth the mandate as a way of promoting economic development in the community, passed the rule unanimously at its meeting Wednesday. A final decision on its implementation has yet to be made, however, as many residents are considering the mandate to be a violation of their First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
Even one city council member is reconsidering his vote.
“After speaking to the community and getting into it a little bit more, I’ve come to the realization that we really don’t any urgency (for this),” Monterey Park City Councilman Hans Liang told NBC affiliate KNBC.
Two-thirds of the city’s population is Chinese, and according to Liang, many businesses already have their signs written in both languages.
Another reason cited in support of the bilingual signs is safer driving.
“Signs that are not distinguishable create unsafe road situations,” the agenda said. “Signs that clearly and quickly identify the type of business allow drivers to ignore secondary extraneous information.”
English speakers interviewed in Monterey Park largely agree with the new ordinance.
“I think you’re just helping expand your business,” Rosemead resident Joanna Heng told ABC affiliate KABC. “Because of course you want to bring in more customers, and people can’t read your name or know what kind of food you’re serving.”
“I think it’s a good idea. So that people will learn English,” San Gabriel resident Phillip Chang told KABC.
A final vote on the proposal will be taken on Aug. 7.
