Thread: Council prepares for public comments on controversial petiti

Council prepares for public comments on controversial petition
Controversial petition will receive public comment at meeting.
6:14 AM, Aug. 22, 2011
Written by
Amos Bridges
News-Leader

A petition that attracted more than 2,100 signatures is expected to generate considerable discussion at tonight's City Council meeting.

Circulated by the Ozarks Minutemen, the initiative petition would create local penalties for businesses that hire unlawful workers and require all Springfield employers to use the federal E-Verify system to check worker eligibility online.

Pitched as a deterrent to illegal immigration by supporters and criticized as an unnecessary burden by opponents, the proposed ordinance is scheduled for a public hearing tonight.

A vote could follow in two weeks, but City Council's options are limited. Because the ordinance was advanced by citizen petition, councilmembers must approve the ordinance as is or send it to a public vote, likely in February.

Anticipating a crowd, Mayor Jim O'Neal on Wednesday said he will limit comments to three minutes, rather than five, during the public hearing.

"Everybody can have their say, and the points that are out there can be made concisely," he said.
The supporters

Ozarks Minutemen spokesman Jerry Wilson said he thinks the three-minute speaking time will be sufficient.

Wilson, who along with the group's director, Jerry Long, is signed up to speak tonight, said the purpose of the ordinance is to combat illegal immigration.

Although the proposed ordinance would penalize businesses for hiring any "unlawful worker," including someone barred from working due to age or other reasons, "our main interest was with illegal aliens," Wilson said.

Wilson said existing state and federal immigration enforcement has been ineffectual and that local action is needed to eliminate job opportunities for illegal immigrants.

Requiring businesses to use E-Verify closes a "loophole" in the current system, he said.

Current federal employment law requires job applicants to fill out an Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9) form and submit two forms of identification, often a driver's license and Social Security card, he said.

Those documents can be forged, Wilson said, and government audits of the process are infrequent.

"E-Verify is a quick check on the Social Security number to make sure it matches," he said. "We think this closes that loophole."

Don Potvin, executive vice president of training and quality assurance for America's Incredible Pizza Company, said the system has been a boon to his company.

Potvin, who said he has "no direct or indirect connection to the Ozarks Minutemen," signed up to speak in favor of the proposal because he is "a very big proponent of the E-Verify system."

Potvin, who oversees hiring and training for the Springfield-based company, said Incredible Pizza began using E-Verify about three years ago.

"Initially, we ran into quite a few situations where applicants obviously had falsified documents because the confirmation wasn't coming through," he said. "But word got out on the street and that's trailed off ... We post signs saying we use E-Verify. When they see that sign, they don't apply."
The worries

Not all business leaders share Potvin's view, however.

Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce President Jim Anderson said several of that group's members likely will speak tonight.

While the Chamber has not adopted an official position on the proposed ordinance, Anderson said it opposes the additional regulation.

State and federal law require government agencies and those who do business with them to use E-Verify -- the Chamber has been certified, he said -- but Anderson worries the system is too cumbersome for small businesses.

"A lot of medium to large firms have (begun using E-Verify) ... but to the mom-and-pop business, especially, its going to be a real onerous burden that I'm not all that sure is necessary."

The Mayor's Commission on Human Rights and Community Relations also "is not in support" of the proposal, according to a statement released by vice-chair Kelly Johnson.

Johnson said the commission has been researching the ramifications of the proposal and is worried about the potential costs to the city and businesses.

Other cities that have passed similar laws have incurred legal fees ranging from $270,000 to $2.8 million or more, the group said.

The statement said businesses, too, could be sued if if they fired a worker based on faulty information from the E-Verify database.

Insurance agent Joe Robles, former president of the local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, has signed up to speak against the proposal, as has NAACP President Cheryl Clay.

Carol Gosselink, who also is signed up to speak, said she wanted to save the bulk of her comments for tonight's meeting.

"I just wanted to stand up and say I don't think Springfield needs these types of laws," she said.

A first-time speaker at City Council, she wasn't worried about the shortened speaking times set by the mayor.

"I'm a professor (at Missouri State University)," she said. "I know how to talk a lot or talk a little."

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