NASHVILLE WINS

Photo of Nashville Parthenon © Chris Wage. Used with permission. http://www.chriswage.com

Voters side with two mayors, new Council to defeat English Only

An English Only proposal was defeated Thursday night in Nashville after over 40,000 voters stood up in opposition to the measure.  The rejection aligns Nashville’s voters with the current Metro Council, current Mayor Karl Dean, and Dean’s predecessor Bill Purcell.

Former Mayor Bill Purcell vetoed a similar measure when it came across his desk in 2007; current Mayor Karl Dean has vigorously opposed this year’s version; and the current Metro Council passed a resolution by a 3-1 margin urging Nashville voters not to sign the petition putting the measure on the ballot in the first place.

English Only was defeated tonight by a margin of 57-43%.  Amendment #2 failed by an even larger margin.  An unprecedented, citywide coalition formed in opposition to both measures.

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Deluge of opposition to English Only

Image by Alexandre Duret-Lutz. Licensed via Creative Commons.

Even with approximately 70 posts to date, this blog has not reproduced all of the written opposition to English Only in Nashville, nor could it ever.  Because today is the day of the special election and the last day to vote, however, the best we can do with the “waiting list” of those comments, letters, columns, blog posts, other statements of support, and news that have so far gone unpublished here is to link to as much of them as we can in list form below.

Our apologies to those whose public statements and endorsements have not been included here – and there are many of you.  We know that everyone who has spoken out against the charter amendments in any context is a part of this effort.

Thank you!

Nashvillian of the Year Gregg Ramos opposes English Only

Gregg Ramos

Gregg Ramos, part of Nashville for All of Us, has been named Nashvillian of the Year by the Nashville Scene.  Here is an excerpt from the cover story:

On the eve of this city-defining election, the Scene is proud to recognize Gregg Ramos as its 2008 Nashvillian of the Year.

Now here’s the surprise: That’s not why Ramos gets the honor. Not entirely, anyway. If fighting English Only were all it took to be Nashvillian of the Year, we’d quickly (and gladly) use up the city’s reserves of trophies, plaques and engraving. The coalition gathering against the amendment can be said to encompass three basic groups: those with the most, those with the least, and those in the middle. Their ranks include university presidents and college custodians; pastors of every denomination and their parishioners; the mighty Chamber of Commerce and little-funded neighborhood organizations. Not for nothing is their broad movement affiliated under the name Nashville for All of Us.

Seigenthaler hosts live discussion on Nashville Public Television

John Seigenthaler

Journalism icon John Seigenthaler will host a live discussion of English Only tonight at 7pm on Nashville Public Television.  From the NPT media update:

Updated. 3:09 p.m. Wednesday, January 14, 2009. Eric Crafton’s office has confirmed that the council member will NOT be part of this live show. This show, scaled down to a half-hour, will still include Seigenthaler and Briley and a discussion of the issues involving the referendum. Should he reconsider and decide to join us, Crafton is still welcome.

Update: 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, January 14, 2009. Nashville attorney David Briley will represent Nashville For All Of Us, a broad coalition opposed to ratifying the measure. Referendum architect Eric Crafton, Metro council member, District 22, remains scheduled to represent those who support it.

Davidson County voters go to the polls on January 22 to vote for or against ratifying a controversial English language referendum. Proponents from both sides of the referendum (those for it call it “English-first;” those against it call it “English-only”) will defend their positions, and viewers will have a chance to call in with their own questions, when moderator John Seigenthaler hosts Perspectives: The English Language Referendum, live from NPT’s Studio A this Friday night, January 16, at 7:00 p.m.on NPT. You can start submitting your questions now by sending them to question@wnpt.net.

Meanwhile, the referendum has made national news, appearing in Sunday’s New York Times. As of this posting, it was the third most e-mailed U.S. news story and had almost 70 comments.

Nashville for All of Us files financial disclosures

Nashville for All of Us has filed its pre-election financial disclosures.  The Tennessean and Channel 4 were among the first to report the results, which feature a total raised so far of $286,025.  Individual donors include Mayor Karl Dean and Fire Chief Steve Halford, and corporate donors include Vanderbilt, Gaylord, and HCA.  Here is an excerpt from the Channel 4 report:

“The majority of the contributions though came from individuals, and a lot of them were $25, $10, $100, $250, which is what you want to see in a campaign,” said Mike Kopp, who represents Nashville For All of Us.

All disclosure forms were due at the election commission by 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

iPhone and iPod touch users: Nashville for All of Us for your Home Screen

iPhone and iPod touch users: update your Home Sreen with a new custom icon for the Nashville for All of Us home page.

Here’s an explanation of how it works, courtesy of The Unofficial Apple Weblog:

If you’re using version 1.1.3 of the iPhone or iPod touch-with-January-2008-Upgrade, you’ll probably encountered Web Clips. Web Clips add home screen icons that lead to your favorite sites. It’s easy enough to make Web Clips, just tap the “+” button at the bottom of any MobileSafari webpage and choose Add to Home Screen from the pop-up menu…

Before this weekend, if you added NashvilleforAllofUs.org to your Home Screen, you would have created an illegibly tiny screenshot of the site as your icon. Now, you will see the official Nashville for All of Us logo.

Campaign headquarters is open

Map to HQ

Nashville for All of Us is proud to announce the opening of our campaign office:

1814 Church Street, Nashville, 37203
(former Ronnie Steine office, next to Budget Rent-a-car)
Google Map

The building, also known as “Against HQ,” will be the primary phonebanking and canvassing location. We’ll be open every day between now and Election Day, January 22 – less than two weeks away!

Hours of Operation:
Monday – Saturday: 10am – 8pm
Sunday: 1pm – 6pm

We will continue to phonebank at the Davidson County Democratic Party office (95 White Bridge Rd, Suite #412, Nashville, 37205) each weekday between 10am and 6pm. Feel free to use that location if it is more convenient. Each location has 10 cellular phones that you can use, first come first served.

Click here to sign up for shifts. Someone will call you to confirm your shift and make sure you know where to go.

Speakers Available

Experienced and knowledgeable speakers are available through Nashville For All of Us to present information about why it is critically important to oppose the English Only resolution and/or to train and activate interested organizations to campaign against it.  Presentations can be tailored to your organization’s needs and can address a variety of topics related to the conversation about immigration.  For information about speakers and/or to arrange for someone to speak to your organization contact …

Avi Poster
aviposter@comcast.net
414-2396

Nashville for All of Us on Facebook

Nashville for All of Us has officially moved to Facebook – the group is called “Nashville’s Moment Is Now” (click here to join).

There are other great Facebook groups opposing the English charter change, and the “official” status of Nashville’s Moment Is Now doesn’t take away from the wonderful things going on elsewhere. Some of those groups are very active and have grown even larger than Nashville’s Moment Is Now, so check them out:

http://nashvillesmoment.com/2008/11/nashvillians-are-already-opposing.html

The idea of the growing Facebook community coalescing around the issue – no matter the group – is to inspire and activate Nashvillians to vote AGAINST the English charter change.

We all believe that Nashville’s moment is now.

Web site launches

Nashville for All of Us has launched its web site at www.nashvilleforallofus.org