Escondido saved from itself

By: North County Times Opinion staff -

Our view: Council's retreat from rental ban a step backward in right direction

We hear much about the "invasion" of illegal immigrants in North County, especially Escondido. On Wednesday night, the Escondido City Council was overrun by common sense.

A majority of council members voted in closed session to abandon the city's effort to turn the city's landlords into immigration inspectors. After the city ordinance to ban renting to illegal immigrants ran into the expensive legal buzz saw that everyone saw coming, the council belatedly admitted the obvious: Enforcing immigration laws is an effort best left to the federal government.

The ordinance would have given landlords found to be harboring illegal immigrants 10 business days to evict the tenants, or face penalties ranging from suspension of their business licenses to fines of up to $1,000 a day and six months in jail.

The statement released by the council Wednesday night read, "Continuing the present policy approach would be unnecessarily costly to the city, and unnecessarily consume the court's time, when other approaches could provide the answers to the problems more efficiently."

Exactly! That's precisely the counsel the council received from this newspaper and many others before Marie Waldron, Ed Gallo and Sam Abed voted Oct. 4 to approve this ordinance.

Forget about the legal costs to the city, which will far exceed the $200,000 estimate floated Wednesday night by City Attorney Jeffrey Epp when city staff time is tallied. The city doesn't have the staff or resources necessary to enforce this boondoggle of a ban, and that tally would've dwarfed the legal fees.

That the ban relied on Escondido gaining access to federal immigration records that it is not now entitled to access also seems to have been neglected in the rush to raise the city's drawbridges.

But the proposed ban was more than a costly, impractical crusade: It was also a nakedly political campaign ploy by Waldron, who rode the anti-illegal immigration revolt to a resounding re-election victory Nov. 7. That Waldron, Gallo, Abed and their supporters also succeeded in splintering their city along racial lines and branding Escondido as an epicenter of intolerance seems to have been, in their calculation, a consequence worth the effort.

And the young U.S. citizens who were threatened with being thrown out in the cold because their parents lack U.S. citizenship by a city that doesn't have an emergency homeless shelter this winter, they appear to have been considered collateral damage.

Escondido residents owe those who sued to stop the rental ban a great deal, for they saved Escondido from itself. These defenders of Escondido taxpayers' wallets include the much-maligned American Civil Liberties Union, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, People for the American Way, the Fair Housing Council of San Diego, the private law firms Rosner & Mansfield LLP and Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, Escondido landlords Roy and Mary Garrett, and two anonymous illegal immigrants renting in Escondido. That's right: Here's a clear example of illegal immigrants saving the city money.

Of course, the issue of illegal immigration will far outlive Escondido's orphaned rental ban. Hours before the Escondido council voted, a suspected illegal immigrant, Rafael Ramirez Perez, pleaded guilty to murder and drunken-driving charges in a fatal crash in Ramona that claimed the life of Amy Kortlang, 22. Perez had been driving a company work truck on the night of Oct. 10.

Other illegally employed immigrants were swept up Tuesday in a series of raids in meat-processing plants owned by Swift & Co. in Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Iowa and Minnesota.

On Thursday, the Golden State Fence Co., with offices in Riverside and Oceanside, was criminally charged with knowingly hiring illegal immigrants to build fences. Among the firm's big projects, to satirists' joy, was a 14-mile section of the border fence near the Otay Mesa border crossing in the late 1990s.

And on the street corners of Vista, day laborers are again returning to the corners from where they were driven by a city law and anti-illegal immigrant protesters.

Hope remains that President Bush can work with a new Congress to craft a sensible, compromise immigration reform that succeeds in securing the border, cracking down on illegal employers and smugglers, and offering a path toward citizenship for the millions of immigrants who are working and contributing to U.S. communities.

For cities like Escondido, there remains far better means to address the complaints about overcrowded houses and degraded quality of life than a poorly conceived and scandalously expensive rental ban.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/12 ... _14_06.txt

Comments On This Story

NC Times Greed wrote on December 14, 2006 8:59 PM:"Why does NC Times Opinion Staff (the group without names) support an Open Borders policy so strongly? Are newspapers so exspensive to print that they want more cheap labor imported from Third World countries so everyones wages can be driven down. Then we can ALL work for minimum wage and share a cheap apartment with a few other families and a pay a premium rent and call ourselves a close knit community. Yes the Future looks Bright with NC Times Opinion Staff looking out for our interests."

Floyd wrote on December 14, 2006 9:04 PM:"The editorial says "the council belatedly admitted the obvious: Enforcing immigration law is an effort best left to the federal government." Pray tell, which immigration law was the city of Escondido attempting to enforce? In point of fact, the ordinance was aimed at those who harbor fugitives -- illegal aliens, trespassing in our country -- and had nothing to do with permitting or prohibiting the legal entry of people into the United States. Do those illegal aliens have desperate needs? Yes! Does that excuse illegal behavior? No! What it means is that Mexico needs to develop a business-friendly environment. The USA can show them how by seizing Baja California and turning it into a possession (like Guam or Puero Rico). Not only will the people of Baja benefit from the resulting improvement in their standard of living, but it will be easier for other Mexicans to take advantage of the new-found prosperity because it's closer and easier to enter. And before you object to seizing Baja, remember that Mexico is flooding California with it's citizens in an effort to do the same thing to us. "

Joyful satirist wrote on December 14, 2006 9:22 PM:""Among the firm's big projects, to satirists' joy, was a 14-mile section of the border fence near the Otay Mesa border crossing in the late 1990s." Priceless."

finally a good editorial wrote on December 14, 2006 9:31 PM:"People who are less educated on this issue don't understand federal powers or the separation of branches of government. A city cannot assume immigration enforcement. There are other ways to stop the flow of illegals...quit giving their babies automatic citizenship (ie.change the US Constitution) and demand that ICE go after big employers like Smith & Walmart and others who consistently employ illegals. And Floyd and others simply must stop buying food...that'll fix the problem real fast."

Reardon wrote on December 14, 2006 9:41 PM:"The NCT has a great answer: Make illegals, legal! This can be followed by making rape legal, murder legal, robbery legal, carjacking legal -- the possibilities are endless. We can save BILLIONS by closing the processes that are used to control all sorts of activities that cost so much money, require so many courts and police, and destroy so many families as culprits are hauled off to prison. Robbers are just trying to feed their families, and get ahead, after all. We can look forward to the NCT Anonymous Staff to lead the way..."

Good Sense Prevails, But . . . wrote on December 14, 2006 10:37 PM:"The City of Escondido finally understands Constitutional Law 101. Too bad they squandered so much money to learn the leasson. Funny to see people attack the NCT as biased. Biased??? all the NCT did was predict exactly what would happen, as did numerous other experts. Of course the "minutemen" type blabbering continues. Stop all the hate and appreciate what an abundance of wealth we have in this country. Jesus would want us to share this wealth. Sadly the message of sharing is lost in this holiday season."

I'm with good sense wrote on December 14, 2006 10:48 PM:"Escondido did not save itself, really. We spent months allowing our elected officials to fan the flames of hatred using our tax money and making a joke of their positions. We can't let politicians take us for such a ride again. It's up to the rest of us to deal with this problem -- our elected officials have proven they are hate-mongering fools. "

Anyone wrote on December 14, 2006 10:51 PM:"Anyone who says this ordinance was not about race is fooling themselves. These council people, led by Waldron and Abed, capitalized on people's fears instead of addressing real problems. That shows serious weakness of character. We deserve better. "

Unfair Business License Policy wrote on December 14, 2006 11:28 PM:"Landlords can rent three properties before they need a business license! Thus, they can do $30,000 to $40,000 of business without a business license! Does any other business segment get such a free ride? No! This unfair and possibly corrupt policy must end now."

Frida wrote on December 15, 2006 12:02 AM:"Right on NCT. Common sense was lacking with the city council trio."

Mary wrote on December 15, 2006 1:06 AM:"It ain't over until the fat lady sings. The fight against crime and illegal immigration is not over in Escondido or anywhere else. "

Thank you NCT wrote on December 15, 2006 6:33 AM:"Thank you for this truthful editorial. We all know that Marie Waldron used this issue to get re-elected and for those who say "so what it worked" I say you like her do not care about the America you are trying to save! This cost our City lots of unnecessary tax dollars. I wish I could have been in the closed door meeting I'll bet it sounded just like the City Council meetings when people like myself, and others tried to speak some sense to the City Council. Well they did not listen but now after the election all of sudden this ordinance is bad idea? I wonder what Sam Abed and Ed Gallo are going to use to get re-elected, I hope they don't think this same tactic of fear will work on the good people of Escondido."

Vista John wrote on December 15, 2006 7:35 AM:"This news paper is a voice of for Mexico. The stopping of this ordinance was not a defeat or blunder by the people whom put it forward. It is but a first step in taking this country in the right direction. Escondido will have other ways of dealing with this, there are 100's of things that can be done. Now on to step two!"

Floyd wrote on December 15, 2006 7:38 AM:"There's no need to stop buying food, the Federal government is already working that angle (see "ICE agents probing ID thefts raid meat processing plants in 6 states; unknown number arrests" at http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/12 ... _12_06.txt and "California company, execs plead guilty to hiring illegal workers" at http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/12 ... _14_06.txt). Do try to pay attention, please."

The NCT's is as bad as wrote on December 15, 2006 8:38 AM:"the ACLU and that is NOT a compliment. I didn't even know about the fund for the legal fees or I would have helped out. I hope this means that we get a tougher ordinance and clean up our city."

Radical Geezer wrote on December 15, 2006 9:58 AM:"The legal fees would not even come close to what we spend to educate, and provide social and health care for the illegals. Unbelieveable that the NCT takes the position that middle class taxpayers should open up their pocketbooks and willingly pay for the services illegals use while our own citizens go without. No wonder newspapers are decling as a major source of news when all they print are half baked opinions!"

Attention all Illegal Immigrants in National City wrote on December 15, 2006 10:28 AM:"Don't like living in the big city? Crime rates up? Overcrowding? Escondido has plenty of new vacancies, and you don't need no papers to live here. New schools and hospitals await you. Plenty of Ethnic restaurants and shopping."

WE NEED MORE CHECKPOINTS wrote on December 15, 2006 10:30 AM:"It may be inconvenient for drivers and residents, but with the rampant amounts of unlicensed and uninsured driver's in Escondido we must protect public safety. How many hit-and-run accidents last year? Over 900?"

THORNHILL'S VIEW 8/12/2005 wrote on December 15, 2006 11:18 AM:"When did that Happen? http://www.nctimes.com/content/articles ... l-8-12.jpg"

Ron wrote on December 15, 2006 1:22 PM:"The city of Escondido, and all other cities have code enforcement available to clean up these slums, and start prosecuting slum-lords for mistreatment of illegals. Head counting, and packing more than 1 familiy to an apartment obviously violates the law. The City Council, and El Grupo, and the ACLU should at be on the same page of protecting human diginty, and safety. Why aren't the Times, or other newpaper asking them these questions? Why should it be the "norm" to cram all these people into very small living spaces? And why aren't they pushing to have health and safety codes enforced? Are they not concerned about these illegals health and welfare? If they enforce current law, a lot of these problems in Escondido will go away. Start perp walking some of these American slum lords. "

What a bunch of wrote on December 15, 2006 3:10 PM:"losers the NCT is you are being ridiculed across the country, websites tying into your article here! lol"

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