Thread: Carlsbad, CA schools chief cancels forum on immigration

www.nctimes.com

Carlsbad schools chief cancels forum on immigration

By: PHILIP K. IRELAND - Staff Writer

CARLSBAD ---- Citing past violence and threats of violence surrounding the "hot button" issue of immigration, Carlsbad Unified School District Superintendent John Roach said Thursday that he has canceled a town hall meeting scheduled for next week on the Carlsbad High School campus.

Sponsored by Republican state Sen. Bill Morrow, Thursday's meeting, titled "The Illegal Immigration Crisis," was scheduled to include former San Diego mayor and radio talk-show host Roger Hedgecock as emcee, Colorado Congressmen Tom Tancredo, Minuteman Project founder James W. Gilchrist, attorney and author Madeleine Cosman, and former U.S. Attorney Pete Nunez.

Morrow defended his town hall meetings and other gatherings Thursday as peaceful affairs that sometimes inspired debate but had never turned violent, adding that he was concerned that canceling the meeting was "encouraging the politics of intimidation and threats."

Morrow's meeting would have focused on how illegal immigration affects health care, homeland security, education, the economy and the environment, according to a flier distributed by the senator's staff.

Roach told one of Morrow's aides in a phone call Wednesday that he was canceling the event, then followed up that phone call with a faxed explanation to Morrow's office Thursday, just one week before Morrow's meeting was to be held at the high school.

Roach cited a school board policy that allows the superintendent to deny use "if an event poses an unreasonable risk of damage to the facility, equipment, or furnishings, and that might jeopardize the security, health, and well-being of an audience or of the community."

"Based on my understanding of the recent events in Garden Grove, Baldwin Park, and Campo, it is my belief that the event you had planned poses exactly such a risk," Roach said Thursday, reading from the letter he had faxed to Morrow's office.

"These events seem to have a tendency of gathering busloads of supporters and opposition who yell at each other and get violent. That's not an appropriate use of the facility."

On May 25 in Garden Grove, police arrested a motorist and at least seven other people after the motorist ran his car into a crowd of 300 demonstrators protesting a speech by Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project. Three people were hurt in that incident. And in Baldwin Park on May 14, police in riot gear were called in to calm angry crowds during a demonstration over immigration-related monuments at the city's Metrolink station.

Roach emphasized that the district had received no direct threats. But he said he was concerned about the potential for violence given the incidents in Baldwin Park, Garden Grove and Campo, where on July 16 an aide to Morrow claimed he had been kicked by a protester.

Morrow said he has urged Roach to reconsider, saying that he had assurances from Carlsbad police officials that the department could provide whatever security might prove necessary.

"They have a task force and operations plan with a worst-case scenario, Morrow said. "They're prepared for it, though it's all rumors.

"It's just a town hall meeting, for crying out loud," Morrow continued, noting that his office carried the required million-dollar insurance policy.

Roach said he apologized to Morrow for the late cancellation, saying he has been on vacation and the issue and potential conflict had only come to his attention Wednesday. Morrow's staff made the request to use the high school theater on June 29. The request was approved by a site administrator on July 12.

Tancredo is a four-term Colorado congressmen and chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. Gilchrist founded a movement called the Minuteman Project, a collection of people who patrol the U.S.-Mexico border searching for immigrants crossing the border illegally.

Cosman is a medical lawyer in California, the author of 15 books, including a Pulitzer-nominated book, and a critic of border policies. Nunez served as a former assistant secretary of the Treasury for enforcement during the first Bush administration, and is now a political science lecturer at the University of San Diego. Nunez is an outspoken critic of lax U.S. border law enforcement.

Ran across a new article. I love to go to this meeting if it is around this area.

www.signonsandiego.com

School bars illegal-immigration forum

Officials point to safety concerns
By Elena Gaona
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 6, 2005

CARLSBAD – A town hall discussion on illegal immigration scheduled for next week will not be held on the campus of Carlsbad High School as planned.

School officials said the event posed a potential risk of damage to the facility and could jeopardize members of the audience.

Organizers said the event will take place next week at an unspecified venue.

"We're in a holding pattern," said Wade Teasdale, an aide to Republican state Sen. Bill Morrow. "We're looking for another location right now."

Morrow is sponsoring the town forum called "The Illegal Immigration Crisis: A Frank Discussion." It is to examine how illegal immigration impacts health care, homeland security, education, the economy and the environment. The forum has been endorsed by the Republican Women Federated Board.

Speakers are to include U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration; James W. Gilchrist of Aliso Viejo, founder of the MinuteMan Project; Los Angeles medical attorney and author Madeleine Cosman, who writes about the health costs of illegal immigration; and Pete Nuñez, former U.S. Attorney in San Diego, who has favored reducing immigration levels. Roger Hedgecock, a conservative radio talk-show host and former San Diego mayor, will serve as moderator.

Morrow's staff thought that by now they would be working on final details of the event scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m., but one week before the discussion was to take place inside the remodeled Carlsbad Community Cultural Arts Center on the campus of Carlsbad High School, Superintendent John A. Roach denied use of the theater.

He cited recent emotional outbursts that turned into altercations at demonstrations and counter-demonstrations regarding illegal immigration.

In a letter Roach faxed reaffirming his refusal of use of the theater, which was originally conveyed to Morrow's office by telephone on Wednesday, Roach said that district rules allowed him to "refuse the use of the Cultural Arts Center if an event poses an unreasonable risk of damage to the facility, equipment or furnishing, and that might jeopardize the security, health and well-being of an audience of the community.

"Based on my understanding of the recent events in Garden Grove, Baldwin Park and Campo, it is my belief that the event you had planned poses exactly such a risk."

On May 14 in Baldwin Park, police in riot gear were sent in to calm angry protesters and counter-protesters over a 20-foot public monument that says "this" land, where the monument is located, has belonged and always will belong to the Indian and Mexican peoples.

On May 25 in Garden Grove, a motorist there to attend an appearance by Gilchrist injured two of the hundreds of protesters who also showed up.

On July 16 in Campo, an aide to Morrow filed a police report stating he had been kicked by a man he identified as a UC Riverside professor who was protesting the California Minuteman Project set up there to watch for illegal border-crossers.

Other illegal immigration-focused events have pitted protesters and counter-protesters in scuffles, shouting matches and finger-wagging.

The Carlsbad school district office has received numerous calls from citizens upset by the cancellation, a secretary said yesterday.

Morrow's office said organizers intend to nail down a location for the rescheduled event by Monday.

Silvia Berrios, an Oceanside businesswoman, said she plans to attend the forum, not to cause trouble, but to present a different point of view than those expressed by the speakers.

"I'm not going to be violent, but I want to show that, personally, I contribute much more to this country than (alleged by) the one-sided show they're presenting to the public," said Berrios, an immigrant from El Salvador.

The town hall is still welcome in the city, said Carlsbad police Lt. Bill Rowland.

"This is an emotional thing for both sides," he said, and the goal of police is to oversee a gathering that allows for "peaceful expression on both sides."

Nonetheless, he said, "We're prepared to handle whatever situation comes up."

Meeting is back on tomorrow. I'm going to try and attend since I live reasonably close.

www.signonsandiego.com

Schools chief allowing forum on immigration in light of suit

By Elena Gaona
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 10, 2005

CARLSBAD – Republican state Sen. Bill Morrow of Oceanside can go forward with a community forum called "The Illegal Immigration Crisis" tomorrow inside the Carlsbad Community Cultural Arts Center on the campus of Carlsbad High School, school officials said yesterday.

"Carlsbad school district will allow the town hall meeting to take place as originally scheduled on Thursday, Aug. 11, in the Carlsbad Cultural Arts Center," Carlsbad Unified Superintendent John A. Roach said yesterday afternoon after consulting with district attorneys because he was sued by Morrow for rescinding permission to use the venue.

Last week, Roach cited fear of violent outbursts, such as those that have plagued recent gatherings focused on the issue of illegal immigration, to rescind permission for the 7 p.m. event at the auditorium. He said he was protecting school property.

But Morrow and some members of the public argued that his decision was an attempt to quell free speech concerning a controversial subject.

"Misinformation has continued to flow regarding this issue," Roach said. "The district has never been concerned with the content of the town hall meeting. I believe that First Amendment issues regarding free speech outweigh the concerns regarding crowd behavior. The decision makes the request for writ of mandate moot and all legal action should now be over."

Morrow's attorney, Peter Lepiscopo of San Diego, announced the superintendent's decision on the afternoon radio talk show hosted by Roger Hedgecock, who will moderate the forum. Morrow's panel of invited guests includes U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus; and James W. Gilchrist of Aliso Viejo, founder of the Minuteman Project.

Morrow is "very happy and his rights have been vindicated and he's looking forward to the forum," Lepiscopo said.

But Lepiscopo left the door open on whether further legal action will be sought against Roach – leaving it unclear whether a hearing scheduled in Superior Court in Vista today on the use of the venue will go forward.

But for now, arrangements for the forum can move on, Lepiscopo said.

Before announcing his decision, Roach said he never intended to ignore free speech.

"I have great respect for the Constitution of the United States," Roach said. Violating it "is not what's in my heart or my head."

The Carlsbad Community Cultural Arts Center is at 3557 Monroe St.