http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_3911603

Article Launched: 6/08/2006 12:00 AM


City defends decision to qualify anti-illegal immigration measure

By Kelly Rayburn, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

SAN BERNARDINO -- Were the 2,217 signatures certified by City Clerk Rachel Clark enough to force a vote on a tough anti-illegal immigration ballot measure?
That's the question a Superior Court judge now faces after city officials filed Wednesday for what is called "Declaratory Relief" following the threat of legal action over the proposal.

At issue is whether activist Joseph Turner should have used the turnout in February's mayoral runoff election as a benchmark for the number of signatures he needed, rather than the city's 2001 mayoral contest.

Had the February election been used, Turner would have needed 4,771 valid signatures - the equivalent of 30 percent of voters who cast a ballot in the election, in which turnout was much higher than in 2001.

Turner signaled his intent to collect signatures in October, but did not turn them in until April - after the February election.

The city's filing in San Bernardino Superior Court came days after an attorney with a Los Angeles law firm said the city failed to follow its own rules by finding the number of signatures sufficient.

At the City Council's meeting Monday, attorney Dana W. Reed said the city should have required the higher number of signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot. Reed, who represents Florentino Garza, a San Bernardino resident and attorney, had filed a letter threatening to sue if the city moved ahead with the election.

In the city's complaint to the court, the city defends Clark's actions.

It also argues that voters in the city have a vested interest in having an election.

"Our position," said City Attorney James F. Penman, "and the position of the City Clerk is that the ‘Certificate of Sufficiency' is valid and that the clerk followed the city charter and municipal code."

It's not clear when the court will consider the city's complaint, but Penman said he hoped it would be ruled upon soon - possibly before June 30 to allow for an election in September.

The so-called City of San Bernardino Illegal Immigration Relief Act would ban city-funded day-laborer centers, punish those who rent housing to do business with illegal immigrants and require city communications be done in English.

Turner said he was confident the court would find the signatures sufficient.

"I'm not really even that concerned about it, to be honest," he said Wednesday. "I just think they're grasping at straws."