Valley Park mayor faces praise from afar, criticism from within
By Stephen Deere
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, May. 02 2007

VALLEY PARK — Mayor Jeffery Whitteaker looked over the divided audience — a
mix of people who either loathed or admired him. For the critics glaring back
at him, he held up a newspaper story about an O'Fallon, Mo., college student
killed by an illegal immigrant suspected of drunk driving.

"If I and this board prevent one person from being killed," he declared last
month, "then I don't care what it costs."

Two weeks later, resident William Reynolds approached the podium at City Hall
with his own newspaper. It was an article from 2003, chronicling Whitteaker's
arrest for drunk driving and refusal to take a Breathalyzer test.

"I would suggest that you don't throw stones in glass houses," Reynolds said.

Nine months after the mayor first championed an ordinance targeting illegal
immigrants, Whitteaker has earned praise from advocates across the country who
oppose illegal immigration but has drawn scorn from some of his own residents
who say he's putting his personal celebrity ahead of the city.

At most Valley Park Board of Aldermen meetings these days, two groups routinely
attend: Visitors who want an ordinance similar to Valley Park's code, which
focuses on landlords, and Valley Park residents who say the mayor has become an
embarrassment.

"This issue and the way it has been presented makes us look like racists," Mary
Fehner recently told the mayor.

Whitteaker, 47, has lived in Valley Park all his life and has been described as
a hard-working "average guy." He is married with four daughters and drives a
tractor trailer for a an excavation and crane company. He also owns a small
landscaping business.

He first became an alderman in 1994 and then mayor in late 2005. He served in
public office in relative obscurity until he began to lead the push for
stronger rules against illegal immigrants.

Since then, Valley Park is regularly mentioned in the national debate on
illegal immigration, and the mayor has appeared on several national news
programs. In October, Whitteaker bought a $360 television with the city's money
and had it mounted in his office to track the reports.

But there are signs the celebrity is wearing thin for the mayor and the town.

In recent months, two board members have called for his resignation. And after
a published interview in which he reportedly made racially derogatory
statements, the board briefly attempted to muzzle him.

Meanwhile, the city has run up more than $80,000 in bills to defend the
ordinance in court, and Whitteaker has blocked an effort by some aldermen to
dump the law and disentangle the city from its legal woes.

And now the mayor has stopped talking to the press.

"Obviously we are in litigation," said City Attorney Eric Martin, referring to
the suits challenging the city's ordinance. "His thoughts and comments about
litigation should be kept to himself at this point."

Unlikely location

Valley Park seems like an unlikely place for a immigration reform effort. The
suburb located roughly 20 miles southwest of St. Louis is nearly 90 percent
white. Whitteaker has acknowledged there is little evidence to suggest the city
has a problem with illegal immigrants.

But one day last July, the mayor heard a story on the radio about Hazleton,
Penn., a city that had just passed an ordinance penalizing businesses and
landlords for hiring and renting to illegal immigrants.

Whitteaker liked what he heard, and roughly two weeks later the city's aldermen
approved a similar measure. "Preventative maintenance," Whitteaker called the
ordinance at the time.

Within a month, the Archdiocese of St. Louis was helping relocate more than 20
Hispanic families who feared being evicted from their homes or deported. Some
took off so quickly they left behind furniture.

In September, a coalition of about 20 attorneys sued the city over its
ordinance that fined businesses and landlords for hiring and renting to illegal
immigrants. The law, they argued, promoted racial profiling, harmed businesses
and led to housing discrimination. In March, a St. Louis County Circuit Court
judge struck down the ordinance.

But the city already had retooled the law, passing a new ordinance denying
occupancy permits to landlords renting to illegal immigrants. Fearing another
suit, the board voted to repeal it. Whitteaker, however, vetoed the decision,
and now the city faces two more lawsuits over the new ordinance.

Valley Park's focus on illegal immigrants became national news, from the front
page of the Los Angeles Times to NBC's "Nightly News" as well as ABC's
"Nightline."

"I saw it on (CNN's) 'Lou Dobbs,'" said Kirkwood resident Donna Ivanovich,
chairman of Missouri's Constitution Party. Ivanovich has become one of
Whitteaker's staunchest supporters, helping organize a fundraiser to cover the
city's legal costs.

"Look at our president and some of our officials," said Ivanovich. "They are
pathetic compared to this man."

Hundreds of letters and e-mails poured into City Hall, most in support of
Whitteaker. So far, his supporters have donated roughly $9,000 to cover the
city's legal costs.

Whitteaker's statements about illegal immigrants and drunk driving wouldn't be
the first time his words came back to haunt him. Several residents became
outraged over two phrases he uttered a few months ago in reference to
Hispanics: "Cousin Puerto Rico" and "Taco whoever."

Whitteaker made the statements about his fear of the city being overrun with
illegal immigrants in an article published Feb. 28 in the Riverfront Times.

"No one can be that offensive in their language without some underlying
motivation," said Valley Park resident Philip Soto. "He doesn't even understand
that Puerto Ricans are citizens."

The city's aldermen initially passed a resolution forbidding any city official
from talking to the media without the city attorney but later repealed it. Two
aldermen have urged the mayor to consider resigning.

"You've embarrassed your family, this board of aldermen and the citizens of
Valley Park," Alderman Don Carroll said during a March 5 board meeting. "You
should very seriously consider stepping down."

Supporters

Valley Park meetings have been attended by members of the Minutemen Civil
Defense Corps, an anti-illegal immigration group, whose members have patrolled
the U.S-Mexican border to prevent illegal crossings.

And there have been people throughout the St. Louis area who want their cities
to pass a similar legislation.

Of all the cities in Missouri, "only one is brave enough to make an ordinance,"
said Wildwood resident Janet Renner, founder of Missourian's Against Illegal
Immigration. "I think (Whitteaker) is a hero. He is defending the people of
America."

Martin, the city attorney, fielded questions last week on Whitteaker's behalf.
He brought up the 21-year-old woman who was recently killed in Maryland Heights
after an illegal immigrant crashed into a car she was riding in. Police said
the man had no drivers license, no proof of insurance and hid in the woods
after the accident.

"Recent events show the wisdom of (the mayor's) position," Martin said.

At the board's last meeting in April, the mayor announced that the city clerk,
Marguerite Wilburn, who also is his sister, would read a few e-mails supporting
the ordinance.

One complained of "30 to 40 Mexicans" playing volleyball in a park near Valley
Park. "I bet 30 were here illegally," it stated.

Such e-mails would now be fixtures at board meetings, Whitteaker said. "I'll be
bringing more and more of these out just to let everybody hear what a lot of
people's thoughts are."

sdeere@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8116



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