Take time to celebrate after you contact your council members (don't forget the at-Larges) and discourage them from overriding this veto. Jump to the list of council members who originally voted for Eric Crafton's unconstitutional bill; they are the ones who need special attention from constituents who are opposed to English Only/First.
If there is a vote to override, Member at-Large and Mayoral Candidate David Briley gets a second chance to register his final opposition (having voted against it on the first two readings and having voting to table Eric Crafton's deferral of the bill last December absent 21 "aye" votes) to the monolingual ordinance (having been absent during the February 7 third reading for not illegitimate reasons), and to placate his critics, who charge that he was "playing it safe" on third reading.
Mayor Purcell did not take the safe road, even with the legal opinion, but he did take the right road, and he deserves our thanks for hauling Nashville out of one of its weaker moments.
UPDATE: Tennessean reports that Mayor Purcell has vetoed it:
Saying "this is not who we are," Mayor Bill Purcell today vetoed a bill that would have required English be the "first" langauge of Metro government. "We do not need a law to tell us what language we can use," Purcell said at a press conference, where he was flanked by more than 10 civic leaders and city officials.
Sometimes the world rights itself all by itself. Crafton's ordinance was, from the start, a stomach-turning display of racist and (ironically) often grammatically inaccurate rhetoric. While I think Purcell should have made his opinion knows months ago and saved the city the embarassment, I'm pleased that he's finally taken some action here.
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