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Immigrant issue fuels nasty race in suburb
Dispute over whether to crack down on undocumented residents dominates Carpentersville vote

By John Keilman and George Houde, Chicago Tribune; John Keilman is a Tribune staff reporter and George Houde is a freelance reporter
Published April 13, 2007


The ferocious argument over illegal immigration in a northwest suburb that is 40 percent Hispanic moves to the ballot box next week, providing the climax to an increasingly nasty dispute that has pushed traditional electoral issues to the side.

Six candidates chasing three seats on the Carpentersville Village Board have settled into opposing camps on a proposed ordinance meant to crack down on undocumented residents. Some want to revive discussion of the measure, which was postponed indefinitely last year, while others want to keep it frozen.



The conflict has played out in e-mail blasts, dueling board meeting commentaries, and a call for a criminal investigation of a candidate.

"It's gotten very personal, and that's something I would avoid," said Sherry Dobson, a first-time candidate who opposes the ordinance. "Now it's causing people to despise each other."

Political turmoil is nothing new in Carpentersville. The village has a history of infighting and fiscal trouble, but last year a new crop of trustees untangled its finances well enough to sell $10 million in bonds to repave crumbling streets.

But that shared sense of purpose ended abruptly when Trustees Judy Sigwalt and Paul Humpfer introduced an ordinance targeting undocumented residents. They said the proposal, called the Illegal Alien Immigration Relief Act, was needed to deal with overcrowded housing and unpaid ambulance bills, problems they attributed to people who are in the country unlawfully.

Modeled after a measure first passed in Hazleton, Pa., the ordinance would allow the city to fine landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and to deny licenses to businesses that employ them. But it never got close to a vote.

Trustees postponed discussion of the measure in October when 3,000 protesters converged on Village Hall. A majority later voted to delay it until the end of court challenges in the Hazleton case. That could take years.

The debate sparked by the proposal has burned ever since. Village President Bill Sarto, who opposes the proposal, has swapped biting, well-circulated e-mails with a chorus of critics. When he cut off public discussion of the ordinance at board meetings, some residents protested by carrying signs; one put duct tape over her mouth.

Humpfer, Sigwalt and first-time candidate Keith Hinz support the measure, and Dobson, newcomer Laura Zambrano and incumbent Jim Frost oppose it. A sweep by either slate could determine the measure's fate.

"I think it's wise to wait to see what happens in Hazleton, but this election will tell us what our residents want," Humpfer said. "It will be a litmus test on illegal immigration."

Some say the discussion is a waste of time. Tom Roeser of Otto Engineering, a manufacturing company that is Carpentersville's largest employer, sent a letter to every registered voter last month to denounce the immigration hubbub as a distraction from more important local issues. He said he is backing Dobson, Zambrano and Frost.

"I think you really can make a change now," Roeser said. "You can get a board that will work together, with smart people, and Humpfer and Sigwalt are not them."

The pro-ordinance Fox Valley Citizens for Legal Immigration has been going door to door to drum up support for Humpfer, Sigwalt and Hinz.

Bob Sperlazzo, the group's chairman, said that those who argue that illegal immigration is not a local issue are ducking responsibility.

"All those board members who want to bury their heads in the sand, we're not going to let them do that," he said.

The election took a particularly rough turn last month, when Sarto disclosed that Humpfer's wife filed for a temporary order of protection in 2005 after an alleged episode of domestic violence.

Sarto demanded an investigation, but Kane County State's Atty. John Barsanti declined to authorize one, noting that Humpfer's wife did not file a police report or seek to extend the order.

The couple have reconciled, Paul Humpfer said.

Linda Ramirez Sliwinski, Carpentersville's only Hispanic trustee, isn't running but has been campaigning hard for the candidates who oppose the immigration ordinance. She said many of the village's Latino residents haven't taken an interest in the election.

"It's hard to get them motivated," she said. "It's hard to get them away from the [Spanish soap operas] or soccer games. It's difficult to get them to see it's important to their lives."

On the village's heavily Hispanic east side, Jorge Villagomez, 35, said he understood the significance of the election perfectly well. But even though he had the green campaign placards of Dobson, Zambrano and Frost in his front yard, he won't be casting a ballot for them: He is only a legal resident, he said, not a citizen.

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jkeilman@tribune.com






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