FB mayor speaks out against immigration issue 1:40 PM CDT

02:05 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 8, 2007
By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News
ssandoval@dallasnews.com

Farmers Branch Mayor Bob Phelps has come out strongly against a controversial proposed anti-illegal immigrant ordinance on Saturday's ballot.

Until now, the mayor has hesitated to take a firm stance on the ordinance, saying the city’s attorneys have advised him not to. The mayor did not vote for the ordinance enacted by the City Council because in Farmers Branch, the mayor votes only in the case of a tie.

The letter is from Mr. Phelps, former Mayor Dave Blair and former City Manager Richard Escalante.

In it, they say the ordinance is “the worst ordinance ever considered by a Farmers Branch City Council, and that “continuing this course of action will create a financial and social crisis in our community that will take years to recover from.”

The letter was sent out on letterhead from Taxpayers Against 2903, a political action committee formed by former mayors and city council members in opposition to the ordinance. The ordinance would ban apartments from renting to most illegal immigrants by requiring apartment management to obtain proof of citizenship or eligible immigration status from tenant before renting to them, or renewing lease agreements. Apartments are subject to a $500 fine for violations.

The letter was being mailed Tuesday to residents who had previously voted in city elections, said Gene Bledsoe, treasure for the political action committee.

David Koch, who is running for City Council and supports the ordinance, said Mr. Phelps, Mr. Blair and Mr. Escalante should have done more to resolve the city’s problems years ago, and criticized their estimates on the cost of the lawsuits as being from the attorneys that filed two of the suits.

“They all dropped the ball. Now that… they’re being exposed for not having done their jobs properly, they’re trying to deflate the criticism,” Mr. Koch said. “This is a group of three men who don’t have a grasp of reality or the facts. I appreciate the fact they stood up and were involved in the city, but they’re not playing straight with the facts with you in this letter in a lot of respects.”