Monday, July 17, 2006
Draconian Rules and Imaginary Fools
Last week the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania - which touts
itself as an All-American city - leaped off the cliff and into
uncharted waters when it passed what is likely the strongest
anti-illegal immigrant municipal ordinance in the United States.
It has three elements - housing, employment and language. I'll
try to give you the shorthand version.
In the ordinance for that city of approximately 31,000 people - about the size of the Latino population of Costa Mesa - the housing element penalizes landlords to the tune of $1,000 per day per illegal immigrant if they rent to an illegal immigrant. According to the speech their mayor made regarding this ordinance, each tenant or potential tenant will be required to obtain a permit from city hall to rent in Hazleton. If it is determined that a person is in this country illegally they will not be issued a permit. If a landlord rents to a person who provided false documentation to obtain the permit the landlord will not be found liable. If the landlord rents to an illegal alien who has no permit the penalties kick in.
The second part of the ordinance hits employers with a huge club. If a business owner employs an illegal immigrant they will lose their business license for five years for the first offense and ten for the second. Of course, this will basically drive them out of business.
The third element makes English the official language of the city. All documents, notices, etc. will be published in English only.
It remains to be seen if the ordinance will pass judicial muster.
The Daily Pilot attempted to interview Costa Mesa elected leaders and potential candidates for elected office on this subject, with marginal results. Most current officials ducked the question.
However, our old pal, the pit bull - the fellow who resembles my theoretical character, Your Neighbor - gave us his take on the issue this morning on his blog, in which he created a fantasy response by a couple of the officials and his mythical person he calls Mystery Improvement Candidate. I, of course, think he made this character up, so have re-named him Manufactured Imaginary Candidate.
The fabricated quote from his imaginary playmate, Mr. Manufactured Imaginary Candidate, is right out of Your Neighbor's playbook. His attempts to make this character sound all-knowing and wise is so transparent it's laughable.
This is how it's going to be, though, as the campaign season heats up. Your Neighbor and his lackeys will be using every opportunity to attack candidates that challenge our young jailer/mayor this fall. They will fabricate issues and stretch the truth to make the opposition appear weak. It's going to be a fun summer and fall.
***
On a separate note, I've made some changes on the Archive Index page that will make it a little easier for you to reach the archives of this blog. No longer will you have to go to that page, find a subject of interest, note the archive number, then return here to the Home page to click on the link. Now, the links are shown on the Archive Index page and are "hot" links - just click on one and off you go.
3:58 pm pdt
In the ordinance for that city of approximately 31,000 people - about the size of the Latino population of Costa Mesa - the housing element penalizes landlords to the tune of $1,000 per day per illegal immigrant if they rent to an illegal immigrant. According to the speech their mayor made regarding this ordinance, each tenant or potential tenant will be required to obtain a permit from city hall to rent in Hazleton. If it is determined that a person is in this country illegally they will not be issued a permit. If a landlord rents to a person who provided false documentation to obtain the permit the landlord will not be found liable. If the landlord rents to an illegal alien who has no permit the penalties kick in.
The second part of the ordinance hits employers with a huge club. If a business owner employs an illegal immigrant they will lose their business license for five years for the first offense and ten for the second. Of course, this will basically drive them out of business.
The third element makes English the official language of the city. All documents, notices, etc. will be published in English only.
It remains to be seen if the ordinance will pass judicial muster.
The Daily Pilot attempted to interview Costa Mesa elected leaders and potential candidates for elected office on this subject, with marginal results. Most current officials ducked the question.
However, our old pal, the pit bull - the fellow who resembles my theoretical character, Your Neighbor - gave us his take on the issue this morning on his blog, in which he created a fantasy response by a couple of the officials and his mythical person he calls Mystery Improvement Candidate. I, of course, think he made this character up, so have re-named him Manufactured Imaginary Candidate.
The fabricated quote from his imaginary playmate, Mr. Manufactured Imaginary Candidate, is right out of Your Neighbor's playbook. His attempts to make this character sound all-knowing and wise is so transparent it's laughable.
This is how it's going to be, though, as the campaign season heats up. Your Neighbor and his lackeys will be using every opportunity to attack candidates that challenge our young jailer/mayor this fall. They will fabricate issues and stretch the truth to make the opposition appear weak. It's going to be a fun summer and fall.
***
On a separate note, I've made some changes on the Archive Index page that will make it a little easier for you to reach the archives of this blog. No longer will you have to go to that page, find a subject of interest, note the archive number, then return here to the Home page to click on the link. Now, the links are shown on the Archive Index page and are "hot" links - just click on one and off you go.
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