Thread: Local leaders embark on Mexico trip

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/ ... exico.html

Local leaders embark on Mexico trip

> By CHRISTOPHER QUINN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
> Published on: 10/04/05
The cultural tables will be turned on 17 local government officials for the next 10 days.

The group of Georgia mayors and city and county officials whose communities include large Latino populations are off to Mexico today, where they will get a chance to get lost in a foreign language and culture.

Gordon Maner, the local government programs manager at the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government, said the trip has two purposes. One is teaching local officials about the country and culture of many of Georgia's immigrants so they can better deal with the influx.

The second is that the institute will use the officials' experiences and impressions to create a course for all local government officials dealing with the rising tide of immigration.

"The numbers are staggering, and they are not getting any less," Maner said.

From 2000 to 2003, the Hispanic population jumped 30 percent across metro Atlanta, to more than 350,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The federal government estimates that another 300,000 illegal immigrants live in Georgia.

Local officials can't control immigration, legal or illegal, and must address the effects, whether by providing police protection or dealing with housing, Maner said.

The institute chose a selection of officials from urban and rural areas for the traveling seminar, including Chamblee Mayor Evelyn Kennedy and Athens Mayor Heidi Davison. The trip is being paid for with a $100,000 grant from the institute.

The group will visit Monterrey and Veracruz, where the Georgians will meet with an array of academics, politicians and average citizens in villages in northeast Mexico.

Phil Hogsed, the chief appraiser from Cobb County's Tax Assessors Office, said, "Seeing where they come from, I hope we will have a better understanding of their culture and ways to relate to them."

The group of Georgia mayors and city and county officials whose communities include large Latino populations are off to Mexico today, where they will get a chance to get lost in a foreign language and culture.

I hope they just get lost. Period.

Local officials can't control immigration, legal or illegal, and must address the effects, whether by providing police protection or dealing with housing, Maner said.

Have they really tried???????

Phil Hogsed, the chief appraiser from Cobb County's Tax Assessors Office, said, "Seeing where they come from, I hope we will have a better understanding of their culture and ways to relate to them."

Hey Phil. Can you spell j-u-n-k-e-t?????
If they are here, don't you think they should relate to US?

Just when I thought I have seen everything........along comes another group of morons.

Why do these “elected� officials take such a halved arsed approach to this issue? Are they reading things bassackwards? You can the secret society (sign me up Skippy) is completely on top of things.

Okay let me get this straight, 350,000 law breaking invaders are attacking America! So what is the plan Gestapo? Let's go to the invaders homeland and learn about them and learn how to assimilate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!

Get that finger ready, I think I need a stomach movement! I smell a tsunami coming and you better get a life preserver ready sheeple!