I'm sort of shirking my blogging duties this weekend. Between work and play, it's been eventful but not all that productive. To appease the blog monster, I bring you a story out of Oregon that has a nice dose of good old fashioned xenophobia:
WILLAMINA - City Councilor Paul Delaney's attempt to have the city declared an "illegal alien free zone" was derailed during Thursday night's special meeting. Both City Attorney Paul Elsner and Delaney's fellow councilors balked at the idea of the city jumping into the middle of a divisive federal issue.
Elsner said he wanted nothing to do with drafting such an ordinance. He said the city would have to contract with outside counsel.
With Elsner balking, the council voted 5-1 to drop the idea. Even Councilor Daron Pond, who seconded Delaney's motion, ultimately sided with the opposition.
The council's chambers were packed for the meeting. A majority of attendees appeared to be local, but the crowd also included several residents of McMinnville and at least one from Independence, along with the media.
The last time a meeting drew this much local and outside attention, it came after the council tried to boot the library's beloved resident cat.
"I've seen cities like Hillsboro and Woodburn change," Delaney said, referring to their swelling Latino populations. He said he didn't want to see that happen to Willamina, originally founded in the Coast Range foothills as a logging town.
He offered the following summary of his overriding aim:
"Law enforcement officers shall have the right to check with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) the legal status of all people arrested for any crime within the city limits. If they are found to be illegal, deportation shall begin. The federal government will be billed for any moneys spent by local agencies for deportation."
Delaney, a heavy equipment operator with a Libertarian political background, said Willamina needed to stand up because no one else would.
"The federal government isn't doing its job," he said. "The state won't do anything. We can provide something on a front-line basis.
"People are getting tired of seeing illegal immigration happen. People want to see a change."
Known for leading a recall campaign against the mayor and three councilors two years ago, he continued, "People say it's political suicide. I don't care. I'm not here to be liked. I'm here to look out for the safety of the citizens.
"I'll vote for this. I've got guts."
Twenty-one people signed up to speak on the issue, but only about a dozen followed through as the meeting dragged on. Each was given three minutes.
Following the public testimony and discussion by the council, during which time Councilor Kevin Nortness called Delaney's proposal a "distraction" Willamina didn't need, Delaney made a motion to have Elsner turn his statement into a formal ordinance the council could act on at a later date. And it drew a second from Pond.
However, Elsner refused to have any part of it.
"This will be an expensive proposition for the city regardless of how I write it," he told the council. "You lack authority. The federal government has complete authority to deal with immigration.
"I can't write the ordinance you want. It's unconstitutional. I won't write it. You'll have to get another lawyer."
And that deflated whatever momentum the idea had.
"This was a waste of time," Nortness said after the vote. "This would be like Willamina passing an ordinance to order our country to get our troops the hell out of Iraq. We have other problems to deal with."
It's a pretty bad omen for any city official when your own city attorney tells you to find another lawyer to draft your ordinance. I think that's all I need to say.
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