Signs of Change: Language at Issue in Arcadia’s Heated City Council Race

According to Sheng Chang, former mayor, councilman, and president of the Arcadia Chinese Association, the Asian community in Arcadia does not want to see the city turn into another Chinatown.
“We still want to be a community of homes,” said Dr Chang, who has lived in Arcadia for over 31 years.
“When I first moved to Arcadia there were around 50 Chinese families. Now, we have probably thousands more ethnic Chinese communities,” he said. “The first impact is that Chinese business is also growing a lot. Because you have the population, you have the business too.”
Dr. Chang said the increase in population includes a percentage that may not be familiar with English.
“Because I have led the city for six years, I know what the situation is in terms of city staff ability to handle these kinds of language problems, so that’s something that the city may need to deal with,” he said.
According to members of the business community, one issue in Arcadia is that businesses don’t adhere to the strict guidelines and permitting processes that the city already has in place.
Each of the candidates were asked what their thoughts were on sign issues in Arcadia, whether they were aware of any other similar issues and how they would promote unity among the different groups in the city.
Candidate Jason Lee said there is a consensus that there should be at least one Asian candidate elected who would serve as a bridge between the mainstream society and the Asian community to report to the council.
“I think any Asian candidate that is going to be elected must represent all residents of Arcadia regardless of their ethnicity,” Lee said. “This Asian candidate must be qualified, and must speak good English and have good communication skills in order to represent all Arcadians.”
Lee said that as someone who was an English major and has lived in both an Asian community and a totally Americanized community, he is all for assimilation.
“We have to have some consistency, some uniformity- we do live under the American legal system, economic system, public service system, so we need to have some uniformity, to conform to certain standards,” he said.
Lee said teamwork is important for the city council – to be able to fit in, and to have the necessary education, training and experience for the job.
“To be compatible with the other council members as a team is crucial – indispensable even, for the new Asian council member – whoever that person is.”
Candidate Robert Harbicht said that there is a lot more involvement on the part of the Asian community in Arcadia in organizations like the Parent Teacher Association. He said he has not heard of any concerns about disunity amongst Arcadia residents.
“Since I took office for the first time 24 years ago I have seen tremendous strides in Caucasian-Chinese relationships,” he said. “I have grown to know many of the Chinese community personally and have worked with them on any number of projects and issues. We now have at least a dozen Chinese members of the Arcadia Rotary Club, where 20 years ago there may have been one or two.”
Harbicht also said he doesn’t feel any special efforts need to be made by the government to promote unity in the city.
“As people live together, work together and play together, they come to know each other and become friends. That’s the way it works for everyone, regardless of their ethnicity,” he said. “My grandsons live at my house and our yard and swimming pool often look like a United Nations. The kids don’t need special efforts to get along, and neither should the adults.”
Candidate Sho Tay said that though some people have raised questions over business signs printed in different languages, he doesn’t think there are any major problems in Arcadia with regards to race relations.
“There are a few [sign issues] generally speaking, but most people abide by the law,” Tay said.
Tay said he has been involved in many organizations and served as a bridge between the Chinese community and the city, and that it is important for everyone to get involved in city activities.
Candidate Paul Cheng said that there are some issues that do pertain to the Asian community such as signs in other languages.
“My view has always been that we are all Americans, and being American occurs the first day that you arrive in this country. Being American is a state of mind,” he said. “We need to come together and in America, English is the language. It could’ve been French; it could’ve been Spanish, but it’s English.”
Cheng said that while some people in the community see signs in other languages as a good idea, he thinks it is a bad idea.
“Segregation is not integration,” he said. “That’s something we need to understand.”
In terms of the signage issue, Cheng said that there is non-compliance with the current statutes. While businesses follow the city one-third, two-third sign ordinance for signs placed outside, inside the store there might be signs purely in other languages.
The city ordinance states that for any signs posted that pertain to business within the city, one-third may be written in a non-English translation, but two-thirds must be in Roman alphabet, English language and Arabic numerals.
“That’s something we have to be very, very concerned about,” Cheng said. “What we need to do is enforce the current statute and ordinances among all businesses and not be ashamed to do so. We do understand there’s a large Asian American issue and out of respect to all groups, we need to enforce the law among all people. We are all American, therefore we all have to comply with the law.”
Cheng said that while “ninety-nine percent” of people are in compliance, the city cannot allow the one percent to continue disobeying the law.
In terms of bringing the community together, Cheng said that through the use of the city, the police department and the fire department, the city needs to revamp the neighborhood watch program and reintroduce neighbors to each other again, block by block.
“One of the things we need to do is come back as a community of homes – that is the symbol of Arcadia. We are no longer the community of neighbors. Arcadians need an excuse to get to know each other again.”
Candidate Peter Amundson said that street signs have been an issue in Arcadia.
“Neither my Grandfather from Italy nor my Great Grandfather from Norway, after immigrating to America would have dreamed to have put up signs in their native language,” Amundson said in an e-mail. “We have a sign ordinance and like all our codes and ordinances, for the good of Arcadia, we need to enforce them.”
In terms of ways to promote unity among residents, Amundson says that our “use of the English language is a unifier.”
Candidate Mickey Segal said that he has not heard of any issues of disunity in Arcadia and that there is already a tremendous amount of activity meant to promote unity, but that they need to be publicizes and promoted better.
The candidate said one example is music in the summertime at City Hall.
“We have good turnouts but I’m not sure it’s well integrated,” Segal said.
Segal said events that are put on by various entities in the city should be advertised to all communities.
“We can’t continue to segregate ourselves in communication,” he said. “We can’t continue to communicate in one language to one group of people and another language to another group. We need to find a way to make our communication available, readable and open to everyone.”
Segal also said that in his own personal experience, he does not feel there is any active force trying to segregate the community.
“I think that the people who volunteer and who participate in the activities our community just want to be involved, and I think we encourage that,” he said. “There are always people who don’t want to be involved and that’s just their lifestyle; maybe they work and don’t have the time.”
“Arcadia has built an incredible city and all who live there and call it our home benefit by the diversified culture,” he added. “I encourage and I’ve always encouraged that diversified culture.”
The Municipal Election will be held on April 13, 2010. There are a total of six candidates vying for three seats on the Arcadia City Council.

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