Official urged to resign over 'open bigotry'
Mustang Ridge agenda item openly posted.

By Marty Toohey
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, March 21, 2008

Local leaders called Thursday for the resignation of a local water supply company's general manager after he characterized a proposed detention facility south of Austin as "a holding pen for wetbacks."

In a news conference at Austin City Hall, Council Member Mike Martinez called for Charles Laws, general manager of Creedmoor-Maha Water Supply Co., to be held accountable for "espousing racism." State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez said he will do "whatever I can to get this man to resign," and state Sen. Kirk Watson issued a statement saying, "Texans will not stand for open bigotry by a government agency." Both are Austin Democrats.

Laws, who is also a member of the Mustang Ridge City Council and lives near the Travis-Hays county line, could not be reached for comment.

The furor is over an item that Laws placed on the agenda for Wednesday's meeting of the water supply corporation's board of directors. The company is considering a request to supply water to a proposed holding facility for suspected illegal immigrants. In the notice, Laws described the facility as a "holding pen for wetbacks."

The agenda was publicly posted and noticed by Fox 7 News reporter Crystal Cotti, who called Martinez to ask whether she was reading the agenda correctly.

Martinez said he called Laws to find out. At the news conference, Martinez said he asked Laws to explain why he used the terms "holding pen" and "wetbacks," and said Laws responded, "That's what it is, and that's what they are."

Martinez said Laws, who is 75, said he has been using the term all his life and that it's common in his community. Martinez said Laws refused to consider resigning.

Martinez said he got involved partly because the company has contracts with Austin and supplies water to growing communities that are southeast of the city limits but fall under city jurisdiction. The area is also home to several heavily Hispanic neighborhoods.

Martinez, invoking a speech about race last week by presidential candidate Barack Obama, said he hopes the language used by Laws will usher in a broader discussion of race.

Austin Council Member Sheryl Cole, who is black, stood by Martinez, saying that, "As Dr. King used to say, 'Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.' " Council Member Lee Leffingwell, former Mayor Gus Garcia and several advocacy groups also attended.

Rodriguez, who represents that area in the state Legislature, said no one should be surprised that people still refer to Hispanics using derogatory language. But Rodriguez said that Laws' role as a high-ranking official in two different organizations should place him under extra scrutiny.

"I think it's my duty, not only as a state representative but a Mexican American, to do whatever I can to get this man to resign," Rodriguez said.

Billy Stromberg, chairman of Creedmoor-Maha's board of directors, was out of the state and unavailable for comment, according to the company's receptionist.

mtoohey@statesman.com;