FREDERICK, Md. — Frederick County has scrapped its 3-year-old, controversial English official language law. On a 4 to 3 vote, the Frederick County Council voted Tuesday night to repeal the ordinance that made English the official language when conducting county business.
Critics of the law complained that it created a perception Frederick was an unwelcoming place. Supporters of the repealed law argued that it’s important to conduct official business in “one common tongue.” Council members seemed to agree that the law, which contained numerous exceptions, changed little about the way the county operates.
“I just think it’s something that needs to go, and I have heard that from many, many county citizens,” said Council member Jessica Fitzwater, the sponsor of the bill to repeal the English ordinance.
On the sharply divided 7-member panel, council president Bud Otis provided the deciding vote to repeal the law.
“I listen to everybody and I’ve been told, ‘Bud you vote to get rid of this you’ll never win another election,’ I’m going to do what’s right in my mind and I just think that this is a wrong-headed bill,” Otis said.
Unlike public hearings on the repeal bill last month which packed Frederick’s historic Winchester Hall, where the council meets, there was a small crowd to witness the final vote.
“That’s disgusting,” declared Christa Grunwald an 87-year-old resident of Middletown, after the vote. She and her husband Edgar Grunwald, 87, who are both World War II refugees from Germany, opposed the repeal of the English law.
“English is the language of this country,” Mrs. Grunwald said. “If I go to court and speak Chinese should I expect the judge to understand me in Chinese?,” Mr. Grunwald asked rhetorically.
ProEnglish, an Arlington,VA-based English language advocacy group, promoted passage of Frederick’s English law in 2012 and it’s president Robert Vandervoort was present to watch the demise of his handiwork.
“We’re disappointed that a majority of the council has decided to go against what the people of Frederick want. We think that most of the people in the county want English as the official language,” Vandervoort said.
Supporters of repealing the law say it shows a willingness to embrace people who move to Frederick County from other countries and cultures.
“Frederick County is a great and welcoming place, it is an inclusive community,” said M.C. Keegan-Ayre, Vice President of the Frederick County Council and co-sponsor of the repeal bill.
