Thread: VA: Town license standoff with former mayor ends

Town License Standoff Ends

Former Mayor Carol Bruce determined to be a legal U.S. resident under new ordinance, granted business license.
By Scott J. Krischke
July 25, 2007

The Town of Herndon has ended a five-month legal clash with former Herndon mayor Carol Bruce over an incomplete business license application last week when town staff told her that they had independently verified that she is legally authorized to work in the United States and renewed her business license.

The settlement came after town staff uncovered an alternate affidavit signed by Bruce stating that she is a legal U.S. citizen in the form of an electoral candidacy registration form filed with Fairfax County, according to town documents.

The Town of Herndon had attempted to receive a signed affidavit from Bruce since March stating that she is legally authorized to work in the United States before they would renew the license for her independent educational consulting company, Carol Bruce Communications. Staff members were acting under a new ordinance passed by Herndon’s Town Council in October 2006, requiring all individual business owners and sole proprietors to sign legal affidavits stating that they are legally authorized to work in the United States.

Bruce, who was defeated in an election last year by members of the current council, refused to sign the affidavit stating that she found it offensive and unlawful.

"In a practical, realistic sense I’m relieved its over," she said, "but at the same time I’m a little troubled that we would waste so much tax payer money over this which in all reality is just … silly."

THE ORDINANCE is rooted in a legal advisory opinion issued by Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell in July 2006 stating that licenses should not be issued until a check of an applicant's work authorization status has been completed.

The goal is to circumvent additional opportunities for illegal immigrants to earn money in the United States through private business ownership, according to the opinion.

Herndon’s Town Council, which has adopted a tough stance on illegal immigrants in town since taking office last summer, moved to enact the opinion as a local town ordinance, passing it on Oct. 10, 2006.

When Bruce had originally turned in her application, she failed to complete the signed affidavit and received a license renewal a few weeks later. After staff realized that Bruce and 19 other applicants had "incorrectly" received the licenses, they issued requests for the signed affidavits to be returned, which initiated the dispute with Bruce, who then secured the services of Reston immigration attorney Charles Tievsky.

THE TWO CHALLENGED the legal jurisdiction of the Town of Herndon to implement the requirement, as enforcing immigration law is the sole responsibility of the federal government and performing selective work authorization checks only on individual business owners was discriminatory, according to Bruce.

"I have very strong feelings about a lot of issues and this happens to be one of them," said Bruce. "In this particular case, I have legal counsel that this administrative directive … is not legal."

"The council has overstepped the bounds of their authority."

A letter sent from Tievsky on behalf of Bruce rejected a previous settlement offered by the town to accept the requirement, continuously stating that the ordinance was unlawful and should be rescinded. Six days later, the town responded by stating that it would use Bruce’s previous declaration of citizenship as proof of her legal U.S. citizenship status and rejected claims to the ordinance’s unconstitutionality.

THE AFFIRMATION that Bruce is legally authorized to work in the United States was a victory for the council’s new ordinance, according to Herndon Vice Mayor Dennis Husch.

"The goal was to make sure that no illegal alien received a business license in the town, and we accomplished that," said Husch. "This case was successful and the town operated in the parameters laid out in the ordinance to achieve that result."

The program may be brushed up for legal language by next year’s application due date, but will continue in Herndon, according to Husch.

For Bruce, questions as to the significance of the ordinance as a tool to stop illegal immigrants from obtaining licenses still remain. The potential that two illegal immigrants could join together to form a partnership and apply for a license also seemed to undermine the effectiveness of the resolution, she added.

"This is nothing but window dressing other than to mislead folks into thinking that something is being done to address federal immigration policy," she said. "I understand the level of frustration and that feelings are high on both sides, but by creating an extra level of work for one class of business system is flat out wrong."

The ordinance is effective policy regardless of hypothetical situations, as it would open up the possibility for legal prosecution to those who misrepresent their status in the legal affidavits, Husch said, adding that the ordinance would stand up if challenged in court.

"If Tievsky and Bruce are sure that this is illegal, they should go to court," he said. "The value of having this ordinance is that it precludes illegal aliens from operating business in the Town of Herndon."

"And so far, we have succeeded in doing that."

Timeline
- Oct. 10, 2006 – Residency status affidavit is adopted by Town Council.

- Feb. 28, 2007 – Carol Bruce files business license application without a signed affidavit.

- March 14, 2007 – Bruce’s business license is renewed.

- April 2, 2007 – Bruce receives a letter from the town informing her that she had been mistakenly issued a license and giving her until April 17 to file residency affidavit, adding that she had a right to a hearing to dispute the claim.

- April 16, 2007 – Administrative due process hearing is held with Herndon staff members, Bruce and her attorney, with no immediate resolution.

- April 23, 2007 – A letter from Herndon’s finance director says that her business license would be suspended if she did not return the signed affidavit within 10 business days. The letter also stated that they would look into independent verification of Bruce’s citizenship.

- May 3, 2007 – Bruce’s attorney receives letter from Herndon’s attorney, asking once again for another residency affidavit, this time with no deadline.

- May and June, 2007 – E-mail communications continue between Bruce’s lawyer and Herndon’s attorney over the lcense application.

- June 26, 2007 – Town offers settlement to use her residency statement in her candidacy filing forms and allow Bruce to not sign the affidavit if she agrees to the program’s validity.

- July 12, 2007 – Bruce rejects settlement, stating that they can use the public information from the filings as they chose.

- July 18, 2007 – Bruce’s attorney receives a letter the town has verified her citizenship status through field investigation


© 2003 Connection Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/art ... 66&cat=104

A sore-losing OBL'er determined to cause trouble!