Court fight over illegal-immigrant rental ban forces Farmers Branch to dip into savings

09:01 PM CST on Thursday, January 22, 2009
By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News


The court fight over Farmers Branch's attempt to ban housing rentals to illegal immigrants is forcing the city to dip into its savings.

The city's court loss in the lawsuit over Ordinance 2903 leaves it with a payment looming of about $900,000 to the plaintiffs' attorneys. That, along with escalating legal bills as the trial over the third incarnation of the housing ban approaches, and the cost of severance packages for nearly two dozen employees laid off last summer, forced the city to dig into its reserve fund for about $2 million.

Today, the City Council in a special workshop will start discussing how to raise revenues or cut expenses to cover the shortfall and build the reserve fund back to the target level of $8.6 million, or 20 percent of the operating budget, city Budget Director Charles Cox said.

"I would not categorize [the financial] situation as dire," Cox said. "But I think we're at the point where decisions need to be made."

He said he would present several recommendations to the council.

The financial news has some opponents of the illegal-immigration-related ordinances saying, "I told you so."

Opponents have long said the ordinances were unconstitutional and would cost millions to defend in court.

From 2006 through the end of 2008, the city spent more than $1.5 million on illegal-immigration-related legal fees. That doesn't count the $900,000 lawsuit award that hasn't been paid because the city is contesting the amount. But the city must put it as an expense on its financial books, Cox said.

"We were told that Ordinance 2903 was constitutional and it would win," former mayoral candidate Gene Bledsoe said. "It didn't. And we've got our third iteration of the law now. ... Some of us, we pointed out that this is going to cost us lots of money."

He said opponents never supported illegal immigration, but opposed ordinances they believed would not stand up in court and would cost the city millions of dollars to defend.

Even in recent months, some residents have spoken out, encouraging city leaders to repeal the ordinances, end the lawsuits and cut their financial losses.

But supporters feel just as strongly about continuing the fight.

Resident Tom Bohmier said he sees the city's cost of defending the ordinances as "an investment." Doing nothing, he said, would cost the city, and its residents, more in terms of overcrowded schools, higher insurance premiums, and higher services – costs associated with supporting a populace of illegal immigrants that often drive uninsured, and don't pay federal taxes.

Mayor Tim O'Hare said the council is following the will of voters, who overwhelmingly approved the ordinance in 2007.

"This issue has been addressed," he said. "I have seen nothing from residents to indicate a change in the collective position. So for those who continue to complain about this, get over it. You lost. The issue has been addressed. Move on."

Meanwhile, two residents who chose to speak out against the illegal-immigration ordinances found themselves booted from the seats they had held for years on the city's library board.

Diane Graifemberg and Matt Wenthold had said at recent city meetings that the efforts were having a negative effect on luring development to the city and the legal costs were too high.

"I'm upset we live in a city where they use their power that way, and where people do not feel free to speak," Graifemberg said.

Wenthold said he's bothered by the "vindictive spirit" of the council.

The removals were initiated by council member Tim Scott.

He and two others of the five-member council were elected in the past two years.

Typically, incoming elected officials will want to make their own board and commission appointments.

But the council chose to add more positions to most boards and commissions to appoint their supporters, rather than remove existing members, city officials said.

Scott said he had no confidence that the two board members would carry out the will of the council, and thus removed them.

"There are a lot of people on a lot of boards that don't agree with us on a lot of things," he said. "We're not vindictive. We're not out to get anybody."

When asked what positive impact the ordinances have had, O'Hare pointed out that they haven't had an impact because the city has been banned by the courts from implementing them, but said, "What price can you put on security?"

He spoke of the stabbing in November of four people at a birthday party, including one young mother of six, by an illegal immigrant.

"There might be six children who still had a mother if this ordinance was in effect."

Police Chief Sid Fuller said the department is working with Mexican police to have the suspect extradited to face charges. Whether the suspect was living in Farmers Branch is unknown, Fuller said

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