Carroll County, Md. officials went ahead yesterday with plans to conduct all government business in English and only English. The county’s Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to pass an ordinance mandating that all county functions and publications will be made in a single language because, in the words of the measure’s sponsor, “we ought to be encouraging people to assimilate.”

That’s what Haven Shoemaker told the Carroll County Times after the vote, which was prompted after he read a report last year about a D.C. suburb spending money on translating government documents into Armenian. Other commissioners were even more enthusiastic in joining the list of panicky local governments that fear outsiders:

Commissioner Richard Rothschild, R-District 4, criticized multiculturalism because it discourages assimilation. Instead of categorizing the country into groups by race or heritage, Rothschild said he wants a united America.

“It’s become apparent the multicultural movement in America is the epitome of hypocrisy,” Rothschild said. “Instead of focusing on a person’s hearts, minds and abilities, it focuses on their appearance.”

Rothschild made it clear in Thursday’s meeting that he will not surrender the country to those he suspects of trying to overwhelm and redistribute the wealth of the United States. Rothschild added that he will not surrender incrementally to those who see America as nothing more than a “goodie bag of free social services.”

Er, OK. Curiously, the Carroll County Board of Commissioners appears to have gone against the wishes of its constituents. At a public forum on the ordinance last December, most in attendance voiced their opposition to the English-only rule. But it passed nonetheless, so now if people need something from the Carroll County government, the request will have to be made in English. The new ordinance does carve out a few exceptions, such as matters of public safety and public health.