More Pre-Election assistance for the incumbents: City Council to vote on anti-illegal immigration bills

The City Council agenda for next week has been released and under the “New Business” heading is this startling action item:

The item goes on to list six House bills and one resolution that the Santa Clarita City staff says the City Council ought to support and “transmit statements of position” to the Congressman McKeon and the US House of Representatives.

The bills include HR. 1868, the so-called Birthright Citizenship Act that would strip citizenship of babies born in the United States to illegal immigrant parents, a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. Another bill the City Council may support is the “Defund ACORN Act,” and the “Fairness to American Students Act,” which would prohibit illegal immigrant students from paying in-state tuition for colleges and universities, even if they have lived in California for much of their lives.

I’m not generally prone to conspiracy theories (indeed, I think I’ve been more than pro-city in the 4 years I’ve run this blog) but this is pretty blatant electioneering in favor of the incumbents. Consider:

1. It was just two City Council meetings ago where we heard Laurene Weste and other incumbents say the City’s hands were tied as far as illegal immigration
2. The City was supposed to schedule a “study session” in which this matter was discussed. The results would have then been brought to the City Council’s attention and a public meeting was to be scheduled

Instead, what we have is no scheduled study session, no public meeting, a surprise agenda item with several controversial bills, and a City Council with three members who are apparently worried about the coming election.

Is this just what Tim Myers was talking about when he mentioned the incumbent’s strange behavior? Is the City Council, or even the city staff, worried about the election to the extent that they want to out-Gauny David Gauny?

What better way to disarm all those angry, Bob Kellar-supporting citizens than by showing “support” for the most controversial and regressive immigration bills in the US House (Defund ACORN…WTF?)

Now Weste, Ferry and McLean can go to the voters and say, “Look, here is what we are doing to fight illegal immigration!” Essentially they are removing illegal immigration as a wedge issue, are they not?

And what is David Gauny going to say about that? For the last six weeks he’s hammered Frank Ferry and the incumbents for their limp-wristed response to illegal immigration. What does he say now that they are doing something he ostensibly would support as a Councilman?

Watch next Tuesday as all the people who showed up to support Bob Kellar either A) show up to support this agenda item or B) get confused because they can’t hammer the City Council for being weak on immigration anymore.