Crafton Full of Mierda de Toro

Eric Crafton, our illustrious Councilman from the Bellevue area, decided to embarrass our city even further by granting an interview to the New York Times in which he stated:

“I happened to see a state legislature meeting in California where several of the state representatives had interpreters at their desk because they couldn’t speak English,” Mr. Crafton said. “That’s not the vision I have for Nashville.”

Southern Beale was rightfully skeptical of Crafton's comment. So I checked with the California's Chief Clerk of the Assembly to see if any of their members require translation services. According to Russell Tomas, with the Office of the Chief Clerk:

[T]o our knowledge, every person that has been elected to the legislature since 1850 has known how to speak English.

The only time we’ve had a translator present is in the rare instant when a foreign dignitary is delivering an address to the Assembly.

So, I guess its up to you as to whether or not you'd believe a two-bit hack of a politician from Nashville, or the office in charge of running the California General Assembly.

Update:

Southern Beale verifies this with the Secretary of the Senate to ensure that both houses of the California Legislature speaky the English.

Update II:

Caleb with the Nashville Scene explains what Crafton was trying to say:

Talking to Crafton this morning, he said he hadn't actually seen the session in person (big shock, I know) but he THINKS he saw something LIKE IT-- possibly in a local council meeting rather than on the state legislative level--on a Fox News segment "two or three years ago."

So, his fear of what happened in California has driven him to waste taxpayer money for this pointless initiative...even though he isn't exactly sure what happened in California.

Damn, he makes Sarah Palin look prepared.