ATLANTA — Modern-day Nashville is a city that thrives as much on global trade as it does on its trademark twang.
So for many business and government leaders, it was a great relief Thursday night when voters rejected a ballot measure that would have limited local government to conducting its business in English.
The proposal sparked debates familiar to many American communities -- about the need for immigrants to learn English, for example, and the cost of translation services in a community where as many as 1 in 10 residents are foreign-born.
But opponents also focused heavily on the damage the measure could do to Nashville's image. In recent years, the city famous for its country music industry has also attracted hundreds of international companies and seen a surge of legal and illegal immigrants from Latin America, Africa and Asia.
At the same time, it has strived to market itself in a more cosmopolitan way: About five years ago, Nashville changed its nickname from "Music City U.S.A." to "Music City" -- because "the 'USA' seemed to link us more with the 'Hee Haw' brand," explained Butch Spyridon, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau president.
On Friday, Spyridon was one of a number of public officials who cheered the defeat of the English-only measure, saying it was "not who we are as a city, or as a community. . . . It's a creative community, and it's a diverse community."
Business owners like Tom Oreck concurred. "One of my great concerns about this was the message it would send -- one that took down the 'welcome' sign and put up a 'go away' sign," said Oreck, chairman of Nashville-based Oreck Corp., the vacuum-cleaner manufacturer. "I feel that that could have really hurt Nashville's ability to grow in a healthy fashion."
Nashvillians have been debating the merits of an English-only law since September 2006, when Eric Crafton, a member of the city-county council, introduced the idea in a bill.
In 2007, Crafton told The Times that he was motivated by "pent-up frustrations" over illegal immigration. He also said he wanted to encourage immigrants to learn English, and save money by having government business conducted in one language.
The bill was approved by the council in 2007 but was vetoed by then-Mayor Bill Purcell, who said it would make the city "less safe, less friendly and less successful."
