So what can you do? Take a moment and call or e-mail Macomb County Charter Commissioners and tell them to support equal treatment for all immigrants by advocating English-only services. Here's the contact information for Charter Commission Chairman Jacob Femminineo -- the Boss Tweed, who controls the Democratic super-majority: (586) 954-9500 or jacob.femminineo@macombcountymi.gov

What was suppose to be a routine meeting of the Macomb County Charter Commission turned into a heated evening with Democrats opposing a proposal that would saved taxpayer dollars by mandating that English is the official language of local government.

The proposal was put forth by 21-year-old Commissioner Harry Awdey, one of four Republicans on the 26-member panel responsible for writing a charter of home rule statutes for one of Detroit's largest suburbs.

Democrats have controlled most of the proceedings since the Charter Commission started meeting in December. The super-majority, acting under orders from Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer -- who resides in the county and pushed for the charter process -- even refused a straight-forward request by Republicans to allow one of their members to serve as vice chairman, as the four GOP commissioners represent nearly 50% of Macomb County's land mass.

But the latest controversy caught the attention of newspapers and TV stations in what is otherwise a lightly-attended Charter Commission meeting.

All three Detroit TV news stations were there with cameras rolling, while reporters from the Macomb Daily, Detroit News, Detroit Free Press and Michigan Public Radio were also covering Awdey's proposal.

While Democrats accused Republicans of being anti-immigrant, Awdey and supporters of the proposal said it was common-sense because there are too many languages. By providing services in the native language of some immigrants, Macomb County was excluding smaller minorities -- particularly those without a lot of political clout with the county's Democratic machine.

Macomb County Democrats claimed it wasn't patriotic to advocate English-only policies even though it would save cash-strapped taxpayers.

Former State House candidate Dan Tollis spoke during the meeting's public comment portion. He was upset that the Charter Commission's super-majority was unwilling to treat all ethnic groups  the same and noted Macomb County doesn't translate documents or provide services in Italian or Polish despite large numbers of those ethnic groups.