Mayor to veto English-first ordinance

UPDATED 1:40 pm with comments from the Mayor --
Purcell bases his decision on Metro Legal report

Email | Print By Richard Lawson

Mayor Bill Purcell

Mayor Bill Purcell is vetoing the English-first ordinance that Metro Council passed last Tuesday.

Purcell said at a noon press conference he is sending the bill back to Council — "where I hope it will never be seen again." Later, he called the ordinance a mistake. Now, the Council will have to try overriding the veto. But based on the vote last week, the council doesn't have the votes yet for an override.

Councilman Adam Dread certainly hopes the issue is dead and commended the mayor for his veto. “The Mayor did the absolute right thing by vetoing the 'English First' bill," Dread said. "That piece of garbage legislation was built on flawed logic and bigotry, and frankly, never should have made it past first reading."

At the press conference, the mayor surrounded himself with business and community leaders, including such notables as Melvin Johnson, president of Tennessee State University, Metro Schools Director Pedro Garcia, Metro Police Chief Ron Serpas, and Ralph Schulz, the Nashville's chamber's president and chief executive officer.

Purcell had his cover with an analysis from the Metro Legal department concluding that the legislation likely violates the U.S. and Tennessee Constitution. The mayor said there was the potential for litigation against the city, noting that such cases have reached the U.S. Supreme Court dating back to the 1920s. He also expressed a concern that Metro employees would be put in fear of wondering whether they would get reprimanded if they did communicate in another language with someone in need of services.

Shortly after the legislation passed, business and community leaders opposed to the ordinance began calling on the mayor to veto the legislation. News of the law's passage went around the world, prompting condemnation, ridicule and parody from myriad quarters.

The Metro Council can respond by overridng Purcell's veto, but doing so would take a two-thirds vote of the legislative body. Last week's vote fell short of that super-majority.

NashvillePost.com will update this story today as Nashvillians on both sides react to Purcell's move:

• Volunteer Voters blog: "Complete and utter shock."
• Sean Braisted: "Stunned... I was wrong, and glad to be."
  
• Commenters at The City Paper: "Those who don't speak English are either tourists or criminals." "Sends the best possible message... take your hatred elsewhere." "Shame on you Purcell for not having a backbone." "Thank you Mayor for making sure Nashville remains in this century."
• Enclave: Purcell took "the right road."
• StepBlog: "We’ll get your back, Mr. Mayor. Gracias, merci, danke, and all of that."
• The Skew.com: "It seems to me the Mayor took the ridicule of the national media to heart."
• Tenn. Guerilla Women: "Purcell has always been one of the good guys."
• Salem's Lots: "¡Alcalde Purcell es el hombre!"

And one more comment, this from an out-of-towner:

• "The real problem is that, as a Northerner, I can barely understand the English that they do speak in Tennessee." [added 13 Feb., 11:40 a.m. ]
  

CORRECTION: This story originally stated that Purcell had never before vetoed a bill. That information, furnished by the mayor's office, turns out to be incorrect. Early in his first term, Purcell did veto one bill over errors in a contract with Vanderbilt University and another one that would have allowed disabled police officers to carry a gun and badge.