MV mayor opposes tequila bar, thinks English should be city’s official language

In August last year, Norris wrote a letter to the Liquor Control Board against another restaurant proposed by a Hispanic couple.

But in January, he approved the liquor license of Super Pho and Teriyaki just a block away from Calle’s location.

“It has nothing to do with the owner,” Norris said of Calle Tuesday.

Too many 911 calls have been made from that location, he said. But an analysis of information from the Mount Vernon Police Department does not support the mayor’s claim.

Since 2000, police have responded to 16 calls at 517 S. First St., the proposed location of Calle Tacos Tequila.

Conversely, police have responded to 471 incidents at Draft Pic’s, the sports bar directly across the street at 516 S. First St.

When asked about the difference between his earlier claim and the information from police, Norris stuck to his premise.

“Draft Pic’s is in a much larger building,” he said.

A business hasn’t been in Calle’s proposed location since 2007, Norris said.

Between 2000 and July 2007, police responded to 229 calls at the sports bar.

Data from the Skagit 911 Center shows similar results.

Gustavo Ramos Jr., the incoming president of the Mount Vernon Downtown Association, said this situation troubles him.

“This is a successful Hispanic business,” Ramos said. “If the mayor truly believes in this free enterprise system that we live in then he should support it. It’s the American way.”

The mayor’s reasons, Ramos said, “are not practical.”

But others have told Ramos they think there’s another reason the mayor doesn’t want the business there. He said some in the Hispanic community are concerned that the mayor has a bias against Latinos.

“I think that there are some members of the community that have expressed that to me. I’m saying that others have told me that,” Ramos said. “And that there are members of the Hispanic community who are obviously concerned about it from that standpoint.”

Norris dismissed the notion out of hand.

“I have many Mexican friends,” Norris said.

Still, Norris has strong opinions on whether the city should be obligated to accommodate residents with limited English.

If it were up to him, English would be the official language of this city. Tuesday he said he’s not shy to speak his mind on the subject. He once proposed a resolution to that effect to the city council before a meeting, but members did not seem to be interested.

City Councilman Mike Urban said he recalled a discussion on the topic a couple of years ago, but thought it happened during executive session. Urban said he wanted to talk with the city attorney before commenting further.

Discussing a potential ordinance on the official city language is not a protected executive session topic under state law.

In addition, the mayor said he asked the Mount Vernon City Library to remove its old sign, which, along with designating the area as a city library, also said biblioteca — the word for library in Spanish.

“I did tell them to take biblioteca off of the library. I felt it would lead to a request to put additional (Spanish) signs in every building we have in the city,” Norris said.

Norris was asked to respond to reports that he had ordered all city phone systems to remove the Spanish-speaking options from the voice mail system.

Although he disclaimed any direct memory of the order, Norris said it sounded like something he’d do.

“I don’t know that (I required that),” Norris said. “I don’t like the dual language things on voice mails.”

He said if a city department had Spanish as an option on its voice mails today, he said he would tell them to replace it with English-only messages.

“I think English is the language of this country, and I think it should be the official language of our city,” Norris said.

Most of this, Urban said, is news to him.

“This is the mayor. This is all him,” Urban said of the policy decisions. “This was all done without our knowledge. ... It sounds like bad business. If there’s a group that feels disenfranchised, this certainly does not help.”

Urban said the council only found out about the change in library signs when a council member saw a voucher for the sign’s replacement for $5,000 and he later drove by the library to look at it.

“I wasn’t aware the sign needed replacing from a structural standpoint,” he said. “If it’s not broke, why fix it?”

Ramos said when a market demands something, businesses provide it. With Mount Vernon’s rapidly expanding Hispanic populations, businesses here are already providing Spanish signs or interpreters.

“Unless you don’t want to serve that population and you don’t want their dollars,” Ramos said.

Carlos Carreon, who along with his brother Edgar is proposing Calle, said they will do everything they can to open their restaurant. The Liquor board suggested they meet with Norris, which Carreon said they plan to do this morning.

“We’re looking to share our concept with him, just share our ideas and go from there,” Carreon said.

The Carreons brought international tequila expert Clayton Szczech to their Seattle restaurant, COA Mexican eatery and tequileria, to lead an exclusive tequila tasting event.

Szczech said Tuesday that the atmosphere of the venue is far from the “frat house party environment” that many people think of when tequila is mentioned.

“I couldn’t tell you the last time I did a shot of tequila or allowed someone to do one within my sight,” Szczech said.

The Carreon brothers say they have their hearts set on Mount Vernon, where they learned restaurant management from their family at the La Casita restaurant.

“If we have the OK from the mayor then everything will go through,” Carreon said. “It’s either that or we have to go through a hearing and it could take up to six months.

“And by then we will have a new mayor.”

• Kate Martin can be reached at 360-416-2145 or at kmartin@skagitpublishing.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gov_svh.