Thread: Cobb Co GA:Crowded Home Measure Called Racist

Crowded Home Measure Called Racist
Video Available

Julie Wolfe reports


Provided By: The Associated Press
Last Modified: 7/25/2007 10:44:33 AM

ATLANTA (AP) -- A Metro Atlanta county commission passed a code amendment Tuesday night to limit how many adults live in a house and how many cars can be parked outside it -- one of two proposals viewed by immigrant rights groups as anti-immigrant legislation.

The Cobb County Commission approved the housing restrictions by a 5-0 vote but delayed action on an ordinance governing on how day laborers can be hired until next month's meeting.

The housing law requires that each adult living in a house has at least 390 square feet of building space, up from the current minimum of 50 square feet. It would also prohibit more than two unrelated adults and their children or grandchildren from living there. It would define family as parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers and sisters.

Supporters say it's needed to curb the eyesore of overcrowded houses, with yards full of cars, that drive down property values. But immigrant rights group say it's yet another attempt to make life impossible for a booming community of immigrants, who often have extended families and limited resources.

"It's all part of a campaign to harass the immigrant population," said Elise Shore, the regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, who planned to present the group's opposition at the board meeting.

Carolyn Warner, a resident of east Cobb County, has been trying to get the county to crack down on one of her neighbors, who she says has had as many as 15 people living in her 1,500-square-foot home two blocks away.

Warner says her neighbor's being Mexican has nothing to do with her reporting her to Cobb authorities in November.

"This is not an issue of nationality, it's just 'clean up your yards,"' Warner said. "How can people start a new life in this country in the circumstances that they live in?"

Warner said she first called the county's zoning enforcement office after seeing 15 young men "wandering around" the house and 15 vehicles parked nearby. She said the woman in the house was fined repeatedly over illegally parked vehicles.

Zugey Arzate says she has seven to eight family members living with her, which is not crowded for her house.

"There are not too many people in my house," she said in a telephone interview, speaking in Spanish.

Going beyond existing code violations by trying to regulate what makes a family and who can live in a house is dangerous, immigrant rights advocates said.

"It's big government telling families who should be living in their homes," said Jerry Gonzalez of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. "It should be alarming to all."

The amendment on day laborers would make it illegal to both hire day laborers and seek employment as day laborers on the streets, sidewalks, parking lots, public property or public rights of way in unincorporated Cobb County.


(Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

http://www.11alive.com/news/article_new ... ovider=top

Supporters say it's needed to curb the eyesore of overcrowded houses, with yards full of cars, that drive down property values. But immigrant rights group say it's yet another attempt to make life impossible for a booming community of immigrants, who often have extended families and limited resources.

"It's all part of a campaign to harass the immigrant population," said Elise Shore, the regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, who planned to present the group's opposition at the board meeting.

...WELCOME to MexAmerica where we assimilate into your culture. We want you to feel just like you are back home in Mexico. The more hard working immigrants packed into a house is the best and most efficient use of space. So welcome to our neighborhoods, we want you to feel comfortable. What else can we do for you, and keep in mind, since you are hard working immigrants and illegal aliens, you do not need to follow any laws or ordinances. We wouldn't want to be accused of racism by insisting on our laws being followed and applied to all.

........and your pet chickens are welcome to foul our yards.

Chicago needs to do the same along with the 287G.

I hope it works for them - not sure about some of it.

It's big government telling families who should be living in their homes," said Jerry Gonzalez of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. "It should be alarming to all."

What should be alarming you nitwit, is over crowded homes are health and fire hazards!

How many more 'Latino Associations' can this country take?

I propose a name for the next one that crops up:

Hispanics in Support of Illegal Immigration and Non-Enforcement of U.S. Laws

I do not care what their customs are in their home countries, we don't do that HERE. If they wish to live 47 people to a house they need to go back to their own countries. Leaving out the fact that many of these properties have to be condemned and bulldozed when the 'multigenerational ethnic family unit' is finally evicted, this presents health, safety and fire hazards that affect the rest of us.
There is a suburb not too far from where I live (unfortunately) that is known to have a large population of illegals. This suburb is also overrun by rats. Now we have lived here for over 20 years and rats simply have not been a problem in this area. My theory as to their rat infestation is this: the local trash pickup service provides large covered trash bins on wheels for each home's garbage. These have a secure lid and are made of heavy duty plastic so the local racoons and squirrels getting into them is just not a problem. These are very generously sized and a home with the correct number of residents should not have an overflowing bin. However, when 20 people are living in the home instead of 5, the bin is full 2 days after trash pickup and for the rest of the week, garbage is strewn all over the place. Voila! Rats! Worst of all, this palce is now requesting $350,000 to help with their rat problem. More tax dollars down the toilet.

I have noticed in areas that have a large illegal population that trash is just piled on the streets. Sometimes it will be a pile 3 feet high and maybe 8 feet long. It isn't necessarily garbage - just furniture, mattresses, etc. You can tell it has been there a while - or part of it has - so it's an ongoing thing - not just a clean out, etc.

The cities would not let that happen in other neighborhoods - why there?

We travel for work and I have seen this in several cities - not just one.