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Tuesday, October 3, 2006 9:16 AM EDT

Toccoa urges action


City requests federal moves to limit illegal immigration

By Ross Willis

The Toccoa Record

City commissioners will not undertake a citizen request to implement a so-called Illegal Alien Immigration Relief Act Ordinance.

Commissioners discussed the citizen request during a work session Monday, Sept. 25, immediately following a regular commission meeting.

After mayor Bob Troup announced the topic as open for discussion, commissioner Billy Chism was the first to speak.

“This is something the federal government should do, and we should move on,” Chism said, voicing his opinion that the city commission has other more important things to do than to do what the federal governments should do.

Vice mayor David Austin added his backing to Chism.

“The state supersedes what we do anyway, and I feel we need to pass on this,” Austin said in support of his colleague.

Commissioner Ferrell Morgan, however, disagreed with the sentiment that the city commission should not undertake to create and put into place such a measure.

In support of the feasibility of the requested ordinance, Morgan said a city of 8,500 people in Florida had “put in place what we are talking about, and it is legal and in effect.”

“This is not something that is completely out of reason,” Morgan insisted.

Chism reiterated his view of the pointlessness of the entire enterprise.

“We have got a lot of other things we need to do.... This is something the federal government needs to step in and deal with,” he said.

Morgan then requested that commissioners ask city manager Billy Morse to “compose something” to be sent to federal and state officials asking them to push for legislation to, as he said, “accomplish what the city shouldn’t have to accomplish.”

Commissioner Andy Pavliscsak said there are certain questions about the measure that would have to be addressed before the legislation’s creation could begin in any event.

“What would be the purpose and what would be the intent of such an ordinance? Of course, I think the purpose and intent would be to protect the businesses of Toccoa,” Pavliscsak said. “I think the federal government sticks its nose in too much anyway.”

Morgan said that by putting a measure as suggested into place, the funneling of money by illegal aliens to their home countries, rather than into the local economy, could be curtailed.

“A lot of the money the illegal aliens make not only isn’t spent here, and they don’t pay any taxes on it, but it is sent back to where they came from,” Morgan said, and that hurts local businesses and the economy.

Ultimately, commissioners agreed to prepare a letter to be sent to state and federal legislators urging them to approve legislation to help eliminate the loss of money from illegal aliens and thereby help citizens and businesses in the local community as well as across the state and nation.