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The fight for Farmers Branch's council

With 2 seats open, polls may be crucial to future moves on immigration


08:26 AM CST on Sunday, January 28, 2007
By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News
ssandoval@dallasnews.com

Farmers Branch may not be finished tackling illegal immigration issues.

The City Council has already targeted apartments that rent to illegal immigrants.

Employers that hire illegal immigrants and those who own or rent properties other than apartments are next, City Council member Tim O'Hare said, especially if the May council elections turn out as he predicts.

Two of the most vocal supporters of the city's ordinance banning apartments from renting to illegal immigrants plan to run for office.

"I believe when Tim Scott and David Koch are elected to the Farmers Branch City Council, even more sweeping anti-illegal immigrant measures will be passed," said Mr. O'Hare, the driving force behind the apartment ordinance and a measure that made English the city's official language.

The ordinance, revised last week, is to go to the voters on May 12, the same day as City Council elections.

Guillermo Ramos, an opponent of the apartment ordinance and any other city restrictions on illegal immigrants, said he's not surprised that Mr. O'Hare and his supporters might try to implement others.

"I think that's pretty presumptuous for him to make that decision and presume they are going to win the election on May 12, or with regards to the ordinance," said Mr. Ramos, who is the plaintiff in one of four lawsuits filed against the city since the first ordinance banning apartments from renting to illegal immigrants was adopted in November.

"I think he's overstating what he thinks is going to happen," Mr. Ramos said. "I don't think he realizes how many people in the city are opposed to these ordinances."

Mr. Ramos said the proposals are matters that should be left to the federal government, and the city should encourage Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform.


Vacancies

Two City Council seats will be up for election. Council members Bill Moses and Charlie Bird have announced they are not running again. All seats are elected at-large.

Jim Manning and others from Uniting Farmers Branch and from Let the Voters Decide, a specific-purpose political action committee working to defeat the ordinance, as well as defeat Mr. Koch and Mr. Scott, have said they are hoping to line up additional candidates who share their views.

"The two openings in May will decide the future of Farmers Branch," Mr. Manning said.

If Mr. Koch and Mr. Scott are elected, with Mr. O'Hare and Ben Robinson already on the council, the anti-illegal immigrant faction would have a majority on the five-member council.

Council member Jim Smith hasn't commented at length about his stance on the issues, though he indicated Monday night that he had tried to get the council to get similar restrictions passed earlier, but as an apartment ordinance that was not tied to illegal immigrants.

Mayor Bob Phelps gets a vote only if there is a tie.

Mr. O'Hare, in his original proposals on the illegal immigrant issue, had floated the idea of prohibiting employers in the city from hiring illegal immigrants.

"I anticipate that shortly after May 12, employers should be put on notice," Mr. O'Hare said. "Absentee landlords on single-family detached dwelling shouldn't get too comfortable. Anyone who rents property in Farmers Branch shouldn't get too comfortable thinking this ordinance won't soon apply to them."

Mr. Scott on Friday repeated similar assertions.

"One thing I heard from citizens and I firmly believe is that we can't leave out holding employers accountable in this whole equation, and I think in a lot of instances it's the employers who are preying on individuals and reaping the benefits of using an illegal workforce, and I think that has to be addressed certainly," Mr. Scott said. "I am completely open to anything we can do under the law to restrict illegal immigration."

Mr. Koch was a little more reserved.

"I certainly think they are open for discussion," he said. "I can't say absolutely, but it's certainly going to be on the table to consider additional measures."

Mr. Manning said he's believed all along that other illegal immigrant proposals would come forward.

"This is just their first step, and when they get control of city government they will do everything they can," said Mr. Manning, a member of Uniting Farmers Branch, the grass-roots group that is working to find candidates for the City Council, register voters and defeat the ordinance.

"The biggest threat to Farmers Branch is to be controlled by a powerful, vicious group using local government to force their attitudes and opinions on the public legally," he said.

Resident Christopher McGuire, one of the leaders of Uniting Farmers Branch, said he's frustrated with the ordinance's impact on the community and concerned about any future moves targeting illegal immigrants.

"I really don't understand why Tim O'Hare wants everybody to think Farmers Branch is such a bad place," Mr. McGuire said. "I'm about to lose my temper because this is a great place to live. We have a college here, good schools. We have an amazing tax base of businesses, many of which are Fortune 500 businesses. What he's doing is going to destroy that."


Finding candidates

Still, he said lining up opponents of the ordinance to run for office is difficult.

"If David Koch and Tim Scott get on the council, it will be Tim O'Hare's Farmers Branch," Mr. McGuire said. "The people that are on our side don't want to deal with the intense hatred these folks have stirred up, so it's going to be difficult to find a nice, thoughtful, intelligent person who would want to inject themselves into this insanity ... but we're vigorously seeking alternative candidates."

However the election goes, it's expected to be a contentious four months, with both sides expected to launch heavy campaigns on the apartment ordinance.

With the election on the anti-illegal immigrant ordinance on the ballot, two council seats up for election that also will be closely tied to the immigration debate, it will draw a lot of interest, said Marty Giehrl, a longtime resident and local political observer.

"It's high time the vast silent majority of registered voters in Farmers Branch who never seem to find time to vote in city elections scramble to find their misplaced voter registration cards and turn out at what might be the largest city election ever held in Farmers Branch," he said.