Spelling spats divide City Council

On Boston's genial City Council these days, there's rarely cause for friction, and members can hardly even find an issue they don't have some common ground on.

But here's one that is causing fireworks: the correct spelling of titles.

When addressing a member of the city's legislative body, is it Councilor Yoon? Or is it better as Councillor Flaherty?

Casual observers might be forgiven if they don't immediately notice the difference. But among council members -- and staff throughout City Hall -- the question of one L or two is very serious .

About half of the council's 13 members say the word should be spelled with two Ls, a British spelling that has been used in city documents for more than a century. Tradition dictates it, they say.

Some, like Council President Michael Flaherty and Councilor John Tobin, defend the position with some ferocity. Boston officialdom appears to support them, with most signs and placards in City Hall spelling it with two Ls, as does the city charter and the Oxford English Dictionary.

Webster's New World Dictionary prefers the one-L version, however, and newer, younger councilors are using one L as a symbol of breaking from an old, hide-bound kind of politics.

``It just exemplifies that we are on the vanguard of change," said Jack Kowalski, spokesman for Sam Yoon, the council's first Asian-American.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino chided the council for the spat.

``If they can't agree on the spelling of councilor, how are they going to agree on anything else?" he said. But his own staff is divided. Correspondence from the mayor's office is sometimes addressed to ``councilors" and other times to ``councillors," depending on the person typing it.

Likewise, the city's website spells it both ways, though more frequently it appears with one L. For some, the decision is being made for them by word processing program spell- checkers that automatically eliminate the second L. For others, their bosses insist on modifying the computer programs to add ``councillor" as an accepted spelling. In the rulebook of the City Council, which was most recently adopted on Jan. 25, the word appears once as ``councillor" and 19 times as ``councilor."

For new members of the board, it is a rite of passage, among the first decisions they make when coming into office and requesting their business cards. Will they accept tradition, or try and chart a new course? Confused new staffers typing their first memo quickly reach for a dictionary to find that ``councillor" is an accepted spelling. But in offices where ``councillors" is the spelling of choice, residents frequently call in to correct the spelling on their campaign signs, press releases, and community newsletters.

``Why use two Ls when you can use only one?" said Councilor Michael P. Ross. ``I believe in conservation -- and brevity."

Salvatore LaMattina, the newest council member, said his staff had a discussion over the issue when he first took office in June.

``I just liked the one L," he said. ``It's easier, and I wanted to be a little different for my district than the previous councilor." Paul J. Scapicchio, the previous councilor from District 1, used two Ls.

``Those new young guys, they've just got no respect," said Tobin, whose staff for several years mocked him by giving him the nickname ``Double L."

``I will not be part of the dumbing down of the English language," he said.

``That's the proper way," said Councilor Charles C. Yancey, who spells it with two Ls . ``I am aware that some of my colleagues are spelling it a different way. I should accept personal responsibility for not properly educating them. Either that or they've refused to listen."

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.