Thread: Ohio - Toledo City Council divided on immigration

Toledo City Council divided on immigration
Toledo Blade
July 7, 2010
http://toledoblade.com/article/20100707/NEWS16/7070344

While the federal government ventured Tuesday into the Arizona immigration debate and filed a lawsuit to stop the state's tough crackdown on illegal immigrants, Toledo City Council was divided on whether it should vote on a resolution calling for national immigration reform.

Council voted 6-6 on whether to relieve from committee the resolution, which was offered by Councilmen Adam Martinez and Joe McNamara. Seven votes were needed to get the legislation out of committee for a vote.

Mayor Mike Bell, who can break the tie, declined last night to do so. He said he would vote at the next regular meeting in two weeks.

Councilman D. Michael Collins, who opposed taking up the legislation because it does not deal with governing Toledo, had placed it in his law and criminal justice committee.

Mr. Martinez said the resolution is relevant because Ohio has a high number of migrant workers. It specifically mentions the Arizona law and calls upon the federal government to "pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would solve the problem of undocumented immigration at its roots instead of through piecemeal enforcement-only measures."

Voting with Mr. Collins to leave the resolution in his committee were councilmen George Sarantou, Tom Waniewski, Mike Ashford, Wilma Brown, and Rob Ludeman.

Before its regular meeting, council held a three-hour committee hearing on the immigration resolution and a separate ordinance that would codify policies regarding racial profiling.

Arizona's law requires police officers who have stopped someone on suspicion of committing a crime to check immigration status if the officers suspect the person is in the country illegally. The law also makes it a state crime for legal immigrants to not carry their documents.

Bell tiebreaker over Ariz. immigration law rankles some on City Council
Toledo Blade
July 22, 2010
http://toledoblade.com/article/20100722 ... /307229990

With Toledo City Council equally divided on a controversial resolution calling for national immigration reform in the wake of Arizona's tough crackdown on illegal immigrants, the decision fell to Mayor Mike Bell.

Mike Bell

Mr. Bell broke a 6-6 tie Tuesday night by voting against a resolution that would have called upon the federal government to "pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would solve the problem of undocumented immigration at its roots instead of through piecemeal enforcement-only measures."

His decision - and possibly moreso his reasoning for voting no - has drawn the ire of some who supported the resolution.

Mr. Bell said he talked to a number of people and did not see a majority of people feeling strongly about the issue.

Councilman Joe McNamara, who supported the resolution submitted by fellow Democrat Adam Martinez, said yesterday that the mayor's reasoning still bothers him.

"Somewhere between dictatorship and mediation is a good leader," Mr. McNamara said. "Carty Finkbeiner was too close to being a dictator and Mike Bell is too close being a mediator."

Mr. McNamara said the mayor should have based his vote on his own beliefs. "I would have had more respect for his vote if he said he approved of what Arizona is doing with immigration," he said.

Baldemar Velasquez, president of the Toledo-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee, said he was embarrassed for the mayor.

"It makes him look like he doesn't know anything on the subject of immigration," Mr. Velasquez said. "The impending threat to our community like in Arizona is that that being aggressively pushed here and the fact that even the governor has spoken out on this is very important."

Mr. Bell yesterday maintained his position. "If the good of this legislation was so transparent, that it was the right thing to do, I would not have had to break a 6-6 tie of council twice," he said.

Two weeks ago, council voted 6-6 on whether to relieve the resolution from committee. Seven votes were needed to get the legislation out of committee for a vote. Mr. Bell at the time declined to do so, saying he said he would vote at the next regular meeting, which was Tuesday. He voted yes to bring the resolution out of committee and it was then that council voted 6-6.

Voting against the resolution were D. Michael Collins, George Sarantou, Tom Waniewski, Mike Ashford, Wilma Brown, and Rob Ludeman.

Voting in favor were Mr. McNamara, Mr. Martinez, Steven Steel, Lindsay Webb, Phillip Copeland, and Mike Craig.

Mr. Steel said immigration policy greatly affects the Toledo region.

"To say immigrant policy doesn't impact northwest Ohio is to show a real misunderstanding," he said. "If there is anyone on council or the administration who doesn't think that immigration doesn't impact the city, they don't understand the citizenry of Toledo."

Mr. Martinez said the resolution is relevant because Ohio has a high number of migrant workers. It specifically mentions the Arizona law and calls upon the federal government to "pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would solve the problem of undocumented immigration at its roots instead of through piecemeal enforcement-only measures."

He also said there was compelling evidence that a majority of Toledoans supported the resolution since it received endorsements from Erase The Hate, Jobs With Justice, Northwest Ohio Building Trades Council, FLOC, ABLE, the ACLU, the Catholic Diocese of Toledo, and the Toledo NAACP chapter.

Arizona's law requires police officers who have stopped someone on suspicion of committing a crime to check immigration status if the officers suspect the person is in the country illegally. The law also makes it a state crime for legal immigrants to not carry their documents.

Mr. Sarantou, a Republican, said council had no business taking up the issue.

"I voted no because I believe we should not as a city council be dealing with an issue in Arizona," he said. "These are federal issues and the President and the Congress need to deal with these issues, and not the city of Toledo."

I am a Toledoan presently living elsewhere. I can't say how proud I am of Mayor Bell! D. Michael Collins and George Sarantou deserve kudos for keeping their noses out of the business of Arizona. By the way, Mr. Mack No-nothing Mara, the mayor should be a mediator! As for you, Baldemar, if you are so embarrassed by Mayor Bell, don't let the border door hit you in the behind on your way south! Nobody wants you here!

Wish we had that same kind of intelligent decency in California. But no, big-headed California politicians think they are front and center in Arizona's law-making.