Election 2007: When enough nativism is finally enough

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

It's easy to forget that we are approaching an election. Sure, it's an off year, and many of the big races (SF-Mayor, etc) are already practically in the books. But that doesn't mean there isn't anything to work for. I've talked about some things here in San Francisco (Yes on A, No on H), but there are plenty of other races across the state that really mean something.  Take, for example, the San Bernadino City ouncil race. In the 5th Ward, Carolyn Tillman is challenging incumbent Chas (yes, really) Kelly. This slick-backed balding guy seems to think that we need to check our papers wherever we go. Well, that is if you look "Mexican" anyway:

But Chas Kelley, a Republican city councilman and unabashed town booster, says there is one thing even more galling: He hears little English spoken in his supermarket checkout line and, worse, he says, the local Wal-Mart ads seem to turn their back on people like him, showing more Mexican than American flags. 

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"This initiative is the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that you're not seeing in the federal government," said Kelley, sitting in his tidy tract home on Varsity Avenue. "If you can't rent apartments here, you can't put your kids in our schools, and that leaves more time for the kids who speak English." (SF Chron 6/11/06)

 And, of course, Kelly has ties to local neo-Nazi Joe Turner, who authored the measure in question in the above quote. Flip it.

Fromthe San Bernaidno' Sun's endorsment of Ms. Tillman:

"The problem with Kelley surrounds his relationship with nti-illegal-immigration advocate Joseph Turner, whom Kelley has uddenly distanced himself from after helping push Turner's controversial ballot measure in 2006.

In June of that year, while campaigning on behalf of the measure, Kelley sounded Turner-like when he told the San Francisco Chronicle: "If you can't rent apartments here, you can't put your kids in our schools, and that leaves more time for the kids who speak English."

It begs the question, where does Kelley stand on the immigration issue? Is he a progressive coalition builder, or an ideologue who will further divide the community?"

The answer seems clear, it's time for Chas to go, and Carolyn Tillman is just the ticket.