Town Meeting

State Rep Keith Farnham and Elgin Mayor Ed Schock
at the Elgin Library January 29, 2009

We had a chance to ask questions and listen to our new state rep, Keith Farnham.

I counted 53 people. Seven of them were AFLA people. That was a pretty good representation.

I asked Farnham if he would help sponsor a bill to get some Immigration training for the State Police. (Alabama has 60 troopers trained.)

He called the idea interesting but stopped short of endorsing it. He then went on to say that he is opposed to employers who exploit workers just because they are illegal.

So I said, "That means you are in favor of E-Verify so employers can't hire people who are here illegally?" He deflected that comment as well.

Then a couple of people on the other side of the room chimed in about illegals taking away jobs. I have no idea who they are but I want to thank them for bringing it up.

I gave Rep. Farnham a copy of our state level initiatives. We'll see if he can buck the party and work on some of those issues.

Farnham is a proponent of "Comprehensive Immigration Reform." I wish those people would stop for a moment and ask, "What will change locally if they give amnesty to illegals?" The answer is that they will take more jobs and more benefits from citizens. The problem already impacts local governments. This will only make matters worse.

Schock spoke a little about the immigration problem and said he's sworn to uphold the U S Constitution and how these are federal matters.

Well, the problem is that not enough people are taking these "federal matters" seriously. They are ignoring the laws on the books.

Schock then went on to say he did not want to see the city sued like Escondido CA and Hazelton PA.

I wanted to ask Schock if AFLA has ever suggested that the city embark on a program that would be against the law. The answer is NO. All of our proposals are grounded in existing programs by federal agencies.

Candidate watch: I saw Brenda Rodgers, Charlene Sligting, and Emi Morales at the meeting. Good for them.

Missing were all the rest, including incumbents Gilliam, Figueroa, and Walters. The perennial Dave Kaptain WAS in the audience.

All in all I think we were well represented. Please put pressure on Farnham to review the state initiatives and give you an answer.

Update on Elgin Police and ICE

The city has been kind enough to share with me a memo by Police Chief Womack regarding the way the police department works with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

For a little clarity I have compiled a recap of the specific case she mentions in her memo:
http://www.legalamericans.net/Valentintimeline.html

Then you can view Womack's memo here:
http://www.legalamericans.net/womackonICE0109.html

I leave it up to the reader to form their own opinion on the matter.

Take a look

We're up and running with our Candidate Central. Take a peek at the information we have on the candidates. For those of you who wanted more details after the forum last week this is the place to start.

Check back every few days since we are adding information from the candidates as we receive it.

Here's the express link:
http://legalamericans.net/CANDIDATEINDEX.html

IMPORTANT CORRECTION!

Oops! I blew it!
At the forum last week I indicated that people could vote for four of the six candidates in the Primary Election. THAT IS INCORRECT.

The official election notice came with the paper yesterday and you will vote for ONE of the six candidates on February 24th.

The four with the highest vote totals will advance to the election on April 7th.

I apologize for giving you the wrong information.

Doug Heaton

P.S. - For a county clerk under the gun for spending too much, that sure is a nice insert in the newspaper. Full color, 12 pages. There are only about four pages of real information in it. I suppose some regulation or lawsuit requires him to do it.

A thank you note

Last night while cleaning up after the forum, I found this "special message." The front was one of our AFLA business cards. The back...well.

I know the table I picked it up from. They must have had a laugh over that one, passing notes making fun of their hosts. The person who wrote this wasn't Hispanic and wasn't a child.

On the other hand, I had about a dozen people thank me for hosting the forum. Other AFLA officers reported the same. The candidates were all very gracious.

It's a great deal of work putting together an event like this. We've been planning it for a month. We do it for the grateful ones, the ones who understand the value of the election process and the dear price paid for liberty.

The rest? "Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it."-- George Bernard Shaw

Thank you, thank you, thank you

We extend our thanks to everyone who attended the AFLA candidate forum last night. It was a full house. I understand some folks were turned back at the river because the bridge was closed. I'm not sure where we would have put them!

A big thanks to Dave, Pam, Sally, Lynda, Mary, Clyde, Janet, Carol...I'd better stop because I know I'm leaving people out.

And thanks to members of the city council Kaptain, Gilliam, Figueroa, and Walters.

I apologize for not publicly recognizing state rep Keith Farnham but he came in late and we weren't expecting him.

And we'd also like to thank the stars themselves...the candidates.

I believe last night was a shining example of our political process. The tone of the meeting was cordial and focused on the messages of the candidates.

We've sent out a candidate questionnaire calculated to elicit more information on a variety of topics. I've got three back so far and we'll be making their answers available to you.

Keep watching this blog and our website www.legalamericans.net for information about the candidates as well as the other TEN people running for the four-year seat.

Thanks again, everyone.

Come on down...

...the weather's fine.Just in case you were worried about the weather, it looks like things will be fine for our Candidate Forum on Wednesday night.

I drove by the American Legion Hall today and the parking lot looks good. You can even see the asphalt!

So, PLEASE come to the forum Wednesday night. Get out of the house. Meet some other people. Shake off that cabin fever.

Elgin City Council Candidate Forum

Wednesday, January 21st at 7:00 pm

American Legion Hall

820 North Liberty Street

Elgin

Brought to you by The Association for Legal Americans