May 08, 2006

"Proposed ordinance brings turmoil"

"San Bernardino officials are hurrying to decipher the implications of a proposed crackdown on illegal immigration.

What's Next: The City of San Bernardino Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinance goes before the City Council on May 15.

San Bernardino officials are scrambling to estimate the cost to enforce a proposed illegal immigration law before the City Council considers the measure on May 15.

But officials say the city's voters and not the council may have the final say on the City of San Bernardino Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinance. Under the city charter, the council has 20 days to either approve the measure without alteration or reject it. The measure goes to a referendum if the council rejects it or if the mayor vetoes it. That vote might not come until November.

Meanwhile, the activist who wrote the measure is demanding an immediate decision by the City Council.

The turmoil comes as San Bernardino's leaders confront an unprecedented use of the city's initiative process to bring a fiercely contended national issue into local government.

On Thursday, the county registrar of voters verified that 2,217 registered city voters had signed petitions supporting the Relief Act. That's enough to force the council to vote on whether to make the measure a city law.

The measure would prohibit the city from operating day-laborer centers and require private centers to ensure that day laborers are authorized to work in the United States. It would empower police to seize vehicles of employers soliciting undocumented immigrants as day laborers.

Council members, ranging from supporters like Chas Kelley to critics like Gordon McGinnis, predicted Friday that the voters will make the final decision.

But they can't say when.

City Clerk Rachael Clark said city law requires such special elections occur no sooner than 90 days and no later than 135 days after the City Council calls for one.

That means the earliest date would be Aug. 15, the latest Sept. 22, Clark said. But that period does not include any other scheduled election, so San Bernardino would have to bear the entire cost of the balloting.

The last time the city went solo, the election cost a quarter-million dollars, Clark said. She said a consolidated election with other ballots might cost half that much or less.

The City Council could extend its deadline to six months, the period stipulated under California election law. Then, the San Bernardino referendum could be included on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.

Posted by Randy Riddle at May 8, 2006 04:38 PM