Farmers Branch landlord ordinance update

It's nice to see several positive developments inspired by the negative, mean-spirited, unneeded and irrational Ordinance No. 2903 proposed by the xenophobic and disingenuous members of the Farmers Branch City Council.

Let the Voters Decide, an all-volunteer multi-ethnic alliance of commonsense individuals, businesses and community and political organizations, secured over 1,700 signatures (over 90% of whom were non-Hispanic) of Farmers Branch citizens on a petition that demanded the City Council either repeal the original landlord Ordinance No. 2892 or to put that ordinance up for vote on the city's May 12 city council election. Ordinance No. 2892 was spearheaded by City Council member Tim O'Hare last August. Without offering up a scintilla of evidence, O'Hare claimed that unauthorized immigrants were "a large cause of" alleged declines in Farmers Branch schools and retail operations. That was intentional deceit on O'Hare's part because (1) the facts do not at all support his charge, and (2) his real reason for pushing the anti-immigrant ordinances was divulged by an attorney who knows Tim O'Hare:

Tim O'Hare specfically told me his plan to get ever more big injury cases: 1) run for City Council; 2) either wait his turn or hope for something politically bad to happen to the current mayor of Farmers Branch; 3) get elected Mayor of Farmers Branch; and 4) when he was done with his term in the Mayor's office, he would sit back and get "all the good cases" in Farmers Branch and beyond. Why? Because his political fame would ensure he was the "go to guy" in Farmers Branch.

That O'Hare is pushing people's hot button and manipulating the unauthorized immigrant issue for personal political and financial gain, there can be no doubt. (As best as I can tell, Michelle at calle vienna was the first to report on this attorney's revelation in a couple of posts she did this past December--here and here.)

As it worked out, Ordinance No. 2892 was enjoined by a district court judge on the ground that it may have been adopted in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. Seems the dastardly City Council members attempted to effectuate Ordinance 2892 through a sneaky and undemocratic closed-to-the-citizens session--and they got caught!

But, rather than doing the right thing and just repeal the landlord ordinance and letting the issue go after being presented with and verifying the people's petition, the stubborn City Council members instead crafted Ordinance No. 2903, which would only go into effect if a simple majority of the voters vote for it in the May 12 election.

Given that the issue will be submitted to the voters, the alliance's next logical step in their campaign to defeat Ordinance 2903 was to organize a voter registration drive, and that's just what they've been doing:



But, as reported by the Dallas Business Journal two days ago, Let the Voters Decide isn't the only anti-Ordinance 2903 organization registering voters in Farmers Branch, the last day for which is April 12:

The Apartment Association of Greater Dallas says the Farmers Branch immigration ordinance unfairly penalizes Farmers Branch apartment communities.

The association is holding a voter education and awareness campaign beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Lakeview at Parkside Apartments, 3950 Spring Valley Road, in Farmers Branch.

The group said it wants to register new voters and inform apartment residents and other community members about the negative economic and social impacts it says the ordinance will have.

Ordinance 2903 requires apartment owners and managers to collect proof of citizenship or proof of legal residence from people who want to rent apartments or renew their leases. Farmers Branch voters will vote on the ordinance on May 12.

"Along with unfairly penalizing apartment residents and holding them to a different standard, Ordinance 2903 will eventually cost the business community millions of dollars in lost economic gains," said Gerald Henigsman, the association's executive vice president, in a written statement. "The cost for apartments to comply with the ordinance, fewer apartment rentals, and the net effect of lower commercial tax revenues could be a devastating blow to the Farmers Branch economy."

The association represents more than 2,030 properties representing more than 425,000 units in an 11-county North Texas area. The group also represents 635 companies that provide services and products to property owners and management companies.

In addition, as reported by Patrick McGee at the Star-Telegram, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials held a workshop smack-dab in the middle of Farmers Branch yesterday where about 150 volunteers helped legal residents from throughout the region complete citizenship applications. (I first learned of this news report from a post by Dig ad veritas yesterday at Dig Deeper Texas--a group blog "of moms in and around the San Antonio area who are tired of biting their tongues because we don’t think 'liberal' is a bad word.")

And in addition to that, the Green Party of Dallas County has endorsed the efforts of Let the Voters Decide and a second group, United Farmers Branch, to defeat the landlord ordinance. The Dallas County Greens have also been recruiting and providing volunteers to register voters.

These are all positive and constructive developments to ensure that Ordinance No. 2903 isn't passed into law. But the real answer to ensure that Farmers Branch's financial and human resources aren't squandered over such nonsense is to elect rational, commonsense folks to the city council. Commonsense folks like Tony Salerno who recently announced his candidacy for a seat on the Farmers Branch City Council:

A new voice emerged today in the race for Farmers Branch City Council, as long time resident, businessman and community volunteer Tony Salerno declared his candidacy for the May election. Salerno announced a “vision for tomorrow” that includes opposing controversial Ordinance 2903, serving as a champion for new business development and forming a special committee to restore the community’s sense of unity and promise.

“I am running for City Council as the candidate that thinks our city can do better,” says Salerno. “The apartment ordinance – immigration Ordinance 2903 – will cost our community hundreds of thousands of dollars and take our focus and attention away from the things that matter most, like better schools, economic progress and a stronger sense of community.

“I will launch this campaign by issuing a challenge to business and community leaders to come together, bridge the divides in our city, and build a true blueprint for economic and social progress. That should be priority No. 1 for any council candidate.”

Guillermo Ramos, another Farmers Branch resident opposed to the landlord ordinance, and the individual who filed the lawsuit that resulted in the original landlord ordinance (2892) being enjoined, was also reportedly going to run for one of the two at-large city council seats up for election, but I haven't been able to find anything more about his candidacy since the 29DEC06 report of it. (If anyone has any up-to-date info on Ramos' candidacy, please let me know.)

Many folks who not in any way feel threatened by immigrants and understand that the unauthorized immigration issue is primarily a human rights matter, are putting a whole lot of their creative energy and other resources into the effort to defeat this anti-immigrant ordinance and to also elect voices of reason on the city council. And I sure wish them every success.

Hopefully, commonsense will rule the day in the May 12 election and 2903 will be rejected. In the event it does win approval, however, I think a judge will enjoin it from taking effect until a trial determines its legality.