Cobb residents line up Tuesday night to express their opinions on the federal IMAGE program, which ensures employees are legally able to work in the U.S., and the proposed code amendment on backyard chickens.
Staff/Todd Hull
Staff/Todd Hull
From left, the votes were Bob Ott: Chickens, yes, IMAGE, yes; Helen Goreham, Chickens, yes, IMAGE, no; Tim Lee: Chickens, no, IMAGE, no; Lisa Cupid: Chickens, yes, IMAGE no; JoAnn Birrell: Chickens, no, IMAGE, yes.
Staff/Todd Hull
Staff/Todd Hull
The Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting room was packed for Tuesday night’s meeting on the issues of chickens and IMAGE.
Staff/Todd Hull
Staff/Todd Hull
In addition, commissioners approved a code change that would allow property owners who want to have hens on fewer than two acres to apply for a variance with the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals.
The meeting began with more than 30 speakers addressing commissioners on the topics of chickens and the legal employment proposal.
Public support for IMAGE
Nearly all of those who spoke on the legal employment proposal urged the board to pass it.
Norm DeWalt of north Cobb asked the board to approve the proposal to require county contractors to enroll in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers.
“To vote against IMAGE is nothing more than supporting economic terrorism,” DeWalt said. “These people are illegal aliens. They’re coming here, and they’re taking Americans’ jobs, so I appreciate you supporting it.”
Susan Stanton of Kennesaw also urged the board to pass the proposal, offered by commissioners Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell.
“As you can see, we again are hiring illegal aliens to build our buildings,” Stanton said. “They shouldn’t be here. It’s time we put our foot down, protect our people, our workers and restore our integrity.”
Patricia Hay of Mableton said she supports IMAGE because she wants her children to have employment.
“I want legal residents of the United States to be employed, and if you don’t support IMAGE, if you vote against it, then obviously you’re voting to have illegal aliens have jobs over U.S. citizens and legal residents and I want my children to be employed,” Hay said.
In a reference to Lee, Maxine Saless of east Cobb said, “I am very disappointed in people who run on one political platform and then change their mind.”
Commissioners discuss alternatives
Commissioner Lisa Cupid suggested there were alternatives to accomplishing the goal of eliminating illegal workers from receiving county funds. She suggested random audits take place for the companies with which the county contracts. And if a company was found to have employed illegal workers, she suggested they be fined. She also supported bringing in ICE to conduct training.
Lee revealed that WellStar Health System had informed him it would not enroll in the IMAGE program if the county approved it.
“Right now the sheriff has services being provided to him by an entity for medical care for the inmates in the jail, and it’s being provided at a reduced cost by WellStar Health System,” Lee said. “WellStar Health System told me they will not go through the process of applying for IMAGE for over 12,000 employees for the volunteer program, which means they immediately become ineligible for the contract under the way this was written. Which means, of course, that we now have to go to the next best provider at whatever cost that is which no doubt will be higher, assuming we can find someone who is willing to provide health care to our inmates and apply to IMAGE.”
Lee called the proposal bad policy. He said he agreed with some of Cupid’s suggestions and called for exploring them in the near future.
“If we really want to make it with teeth, we tell our vendors that if you are caught with an illegal immigrant you will never work with Cobb County again,” Lee said.
Commissioners Helen Goreham, Cupid and Lee voted against the proposal, while Ott and Birrell voted for it.
After the meeting, Michael Opitz of east Cobb expressed his disappointment with Lee, Goreham and Cupid.
“We have a major illegal immigration problem in Georgia,” Opitz said. “It’s larger than Arizona, and we continue having people vote against the best interest of Georgia, our nation, our county, and I have to question their motives.”
The fact is there are entities in the state and county who did not want to see the proposal pass, Opitz said.
“They mentioned WellStar, they mentioned several companies, so you can only imagine that companies brought pressure to them and then you have to ask why because good government and good governance is not hiring people who are not supposed to be in your country illegally and hurt the employment prospects of American citizens,” Opitz said. “We have a problem, and these people are on the wrong side of the issue.”
Support for hen proposal
Just about all of the speakers at the meeting said they favored allowing hens on fewer than two acres.
Bob Harber of Smyrna said the board should leave chickens alone.
“Personally I think you’re wasting your time trying to regulate chickens,” Harber said. “No. 1, they are not a traffic hazard. Where you could spend your time on is asking Cobb’s finest to enforce these illegals jaywalking on all major highways. That is the traffic hazard, and if you have a fatality that takes your police department four or five hours to investigate that. I think you should spend more time on that than worrying about chickens.”
The commission voted 3-2 for the code change with Lee and Birrell opposed.
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That was just one month!
Between June 2009 and June 2010 immigrants (including illegal aliens) gained 656,000 jobs, while U.S. born workers lost 1.2 million jobs.
57% of immigrants admitted to being non-citizens.
Remittances from the U.S. is Mexico's 2nd largest source of income, 2nd only to the oil industry.
Remittances to Mexico from the U.S. in 2009 totaled $21.2 billion.
Inter-American Development bank reported that in 2009 alone, all of Latin American countries received 69.2 billion.
All government entities(local and federal)are working against the American citizens and against America.
If the sheriff won't, maybe the MDJ could go out to the jobsite and do some snooping.
Then and only then, will the displaced Americans be able to find jobs again.
The wages are too depressed by cheap labor and do not reflect a true living wage at this time.
The facts are that there are plenty of jobs for those who really want to work, and that undocumented immigrants don't take anyone's jobs but actually create jobs by their buying power and taxes paid.
So this is all really a non-issue and smoke screen for other motives.
You are simply a willing partner in the criminal enterprise of illegal alien labor. And yes, that puts you in the same class with the county commissioners and the contractors that use illegal aliens on their crews.
I wouldn't come to you for anything, if you were the last person on the planet.
You are a traitor to this country.
Oxymoron.
It's called lip service, buying time.
The practice of using the cheap illegal labor is widespread and very clear to the commissioners and everyone else that isn't asleep.
Elected officials intend to do nothing.
If they had ANY intentions to do the right thing, they could have very easily said, lets let ICE do the initial audits with IMAGE, WHILE we work on an ordinance with real meaning and teeth.
Ain't gonna happen.
Too much PROFITS at stake.
It's a money abyss.
The county and local entities are party to this criminal practice!
But I must admit, the chickens are not as loud as the neighbor's barking dog. The difference between a barking dog and a rooster would be the dog barked only occasionally and the rooster crowed EVERY day.
It all comes down to consideration and that trait among people is fading.
DD
West Cobb
The IMAGE ordinance was presented as a possible means to addressing the issue of illegal immigration, however it was deemed not to be THE solution to addressing illegal immigration in Cobb County.
The long term ramifications of implementing the ordinance was deemed to create a volatile business environment that ultimately leaves Cobb County on the loosing end. Compromises to the services provided by contractors would have to be made resulting in less than the best for the citizens of Cobb.
Every single Commissioner reaffirmed their commitment last night to supporting a legal workforce in Cobb County. Some even put forward ideas of their own that address the issue MORE head on and stringently than IMAGE. Why not move forward with some of those proposition. Cupid hit the nail on the head - why not address the issue at a county level rather than inviting the federal government (which we all know does a poor job anyway) to lord over us. On that same note but at a different angle - comprehensive immigration reform is slated to be addressed this Congress by both GOP and democrats - reform that is going to offer a path to citizenship for all of those here illegally. Why would we ask businesses to allocate resources to IMAGE, especially during these cash strapped times, when they will have done so in vein in the coming months?
Why not take Goreham up on her idea of a task force? Why not press Cupid to lead the effort in materializing her alternative suggestions? Why does it have to be IMAGE or die?
I honestly think there is a ring to the word "ICE" that has become a beacon for those who maintain illegal immigration is the cancer of this country. Let's take a step back and then forge a different path...
Also, there is no denying - more people were concerned about chickens last night than they were the implementation of IMAGE.
In some circles it's called extortion.
A large portion of revenue to Wellstar probably comes from Illegal Aliens and to make matters worse probably a large chunk of the Illegal revenue is in Medicaid and other welfare payments and direct indigent charge offs, by the Hospital.
Also, take note of how many times the good Cobb County citizens reference the "illegal aliens" (which is code for Mexican) as "THESE PEOPLE."
Maybe you should ask yourself what it would take for THESE PEOPLE to uproot their entire family, enter the US (legally or illegally) to pour concrete, pick lettuce, or work in a poultry plant. Maybe THESE PEOPLE are trying to create a better life for themselves and their families. Maybe THESE PEOPLE are harder workers than most Americans. Maybe THESE PEOPLE understand that America is a land of equal opportunity and are seizing that opportunity.
When did YOUR PEOPLE come to this country? Why did YOUR PEOPLE come to the US?
Maybe YOUR PEOPLE and THESE PEOPLE are not so different after all.
For a county with so many who profess to be Christians, you might want to re-read the story of the good Samaritan.
Finally, since when does the Tea Party crowd in Cobb County look to the federal government for solutions? The IMAGE program is another flawed federal solution. It is a back door tax on business and will kill many of the jobs that you think you are creating or saving.
I urge all who understand the harm that was done to the American people last nite, to do the same.
Anchor babies are just that, ANCHORS for illegals.
I understand it's hard for you to comprehend.