College Park City councilman Jack Perry says city taxpayers shouldn't be paying to have city documents on the Internet translated into other languages.

He says English is the language of commerce in the U.S. and says the city should establish English as its official language. Perry is proposing that College Park study towns that have already taken the step to determine whether it has been good or bad for the local economy.

Perry is troubled that the College Park Web site offers translations into Spanish, French, Italian and German. City officials say the translation feature costs the city $810 per year.

Most College Park residents who spoke to ABC 7/NewsChannel 8 said they were not in favor of the measure.

"We're the only country in the world where its expected to only speak one language," said Sandra Moore. "If you go to Europe, they all speak two or three different languages, and I don't see why we shouldn't either."

"I think if you make it official, it can lock people in to a specific culture, a specific language, and that can limit what people are able to do," added Stephen Wade.

A Casa de Maryland spokesperson says her group opposes the measure.

"These provision really serve as a cultural declaration of who's welcome and who's not welcome in a community," said Kim Propeack of Casa de Maryland.

The only supporter for the proposal was an Ethiopian immigrant, who told reporter Suzanne Kennedy, "It's English. We have to speak English; it's an English country. "

Perry plans to introduce the proposal in September.

Two Maryland towns, Taneytown and Walkersville, have made English their official language.


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Information from: The Washington Examiner