I received the following pamphlet in the mail today (click to embiggen):

[1]

And, as suggested, I went to the website [2] to find out more about the suggested legislation.

That referendum, if successful, would add a section 1.08 to Article 1 of the Metro charter as follows:

"English is the official language of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Official actions (those which bind or commit the government) shall be taken only in the English language, and all official government communications and publications shall be published only in English. No person shall have a right to government services in any other language. All meetings of the Metro Council, Boards, and Commissions of the Metropolitan Government shall be conducted in English. Nothing in this measure shall be interpreted to conflict with federal or state law."

So I found that out. But there's nothing apparent on the website or this mailer of who paid for this stuff, other than "paid for by 'Nashville English First'." That tells me nothing. However, since the Internet makes a lot of that information more or less available if you know a few simple commands...

% whois nashvilleenglishfirst.com

...and if you follow that output, you will find that the administrative contact for this domain is Nashville Metro Councilman Eric Crafton. This stands to reason, as "English first" is one of this guy's known hobby horses (follow below the cut for more).

That being said: Why doesn't he have the courage to sign his proud English name in bold print upon his own mailers?

(For what it's worth, I'm shredding the petition and I'm voting No, Nein, Nyet, Não, Ne, Mecheye, Neu, Tsha, Không, Yuk, Yanda, Naagga, Ntondo, Ochi, Ei, Neen... you get the idea [3].)

Googling more: he is on record in the Nashville Tennessean as being in favor of an English-only referendum [4]. He sponsored a bill to do this last year which failed passage [5], and perhaps for good reason:

After learning of Crafton’s ballot initiative, Mayor Karl Dean said he was going to request the legal department to review it.

Dean added that the wording of the initiative was similar to last year’s bill, which had its state and federal constitutionality questioned by the legal department, which later found it unconstitutional.

“Our government doesn’t need to spend taxpayer money defending this in court,” Dean said. “We live in a global economy and the image we want to project of Nashville to the rest of the world is that we’re a welcoming and open city, and that we’re able to communicate with people in more than just our own language.”

Dean specifically took issue with specific phrasing of the charter amendment proposal, which states, “No person shall have a right to government services in any other language.”

That portion goes further than simply making English Metro’s official language.

“As a government, we have a responsibility to protect and care for all of our citizens no matter the language they speak,” Dean said. “Whether it’s someone who is a victim of a crime or someone reporting a crime or an accident, we should have the ability to communicate with them.”

Too bad I don't live in District 22. Regardless, I'd give good money to whoever decides to run against this asshat in the future.