Garden City cracks down on!!!

[Army_of_One]

Very good point Bubba but we all know that a majority of unlicensed drivers are illegals...

[Bubba]

Originally Posted by Army_of_One

Very good point Bubba but we all know that a majority of unlicensed drivers are illegals...

That may be true, but the law itself doesn't discriminate. If we can get the law changed like Garden City and the illegals want to continue to enjoy their sanctuary in Dodge, they better not drive without a license and/or insurance.

[Army_of_One]

Originally Posted by Bubba

That may be true, but the law itself doesn't discriminate. If we can get the law changed like Garden City and the illegals want to continue to enjoy their sanctuary in Dodge, they better not drive without a license and/or insurance.

I would agree. The LAW is to target UNLICENSED DRIVERS....if it happens to put a few illegals in jail along the way then so be it...

[jackknife]

Originally Posted by lurker

I stopped at Wal(of China)Mart this noon (headache pills) and walked past a pickup that had just parked in the pregnant mother's slot as two able bodied (male) 'good swimmers' exited the pickup.

They obviously weren't PG but I'd bet they're both very successful 'breeders'

You know, when you say things like "good swimmers" I stop listening. I know you are angry and I'm not even saying you don't have reason to be but you divert attention from the issue (being illegals) when you start to use language that seems offensive. Yes, you have every right to say it however you want. No,I don't think you need to be completely PC about everything. My point is that you might be more effective if you stick to terms that don't offend. You had a great point in there and I totally was turned off by the language. I know it isn't going to get you to change anything but I wanted to point out something that I noticed.

[Army_of_One]

Originally Posted by jackknife

I totally was turned off by the language.

Lurker....mayhaps you should now use some language to turn Jackknife on!?!

[lurker]

Originally Posted by Army_of_One

Lurker....mayhaps you should now use some language to turn Jackknife on!?!

Thanks Army for the pointer. For some reason I'm not thinking too clearly these daze.

Silly lurker; he doesn't even know the korrekt term to describe a brown fellow who just parked in a parking space intended for pregnant wimmen. Never mind the undisclosed fact that that fellow was yaking on a cell phone using some language that included lots of words ending in "o".... oh well.

Question for jack....: What word wouldn't offend you this fine morning?

[Highwayman]

Here’s my unwanted two cents worth.

…No,I don't think you need to be completely PC about everything. My point is that you might be more effective if you stick to terms that don't offend….

Isn’t being completely PC all about using words designed to not offend anyone? Sounds like a contradiction to me.

In the old days when we used the term ‘wetback’ there was no damn confusion what we were talking about.

[Sherry_Giskie]

Quote:
Sherry Giskie <Sherry_giskie@cox.net> wrote:

If I may ask, how do I go about getting an ordinance in the works? Am I speaking to the wrong individuals i.e.: city commissioners (jim.sherer@yahoo.com, ksmoll70@hotmail.com, jlembright@cox.net, rsowers@starrtech.net, commissionerterrylee@yahoo..com)? Is there someone else that can get this moving forward? If so, would you please give me a forwarding address?

Sherry Giskie

Quote:
From: Terry Lee [commissionerterrylee@yahoo.com]

Sherry, you got it right. 3 of the 5 can make it happen. People speaking out in the visitors section at our next regular meeting would also be a good thing. That is on Nov 5 at 7pm at city hall, 806 2nd ave. (if you know of anyone interested).
Terry
So who's goin?

Don't forget...this is tonight if you want to say something about this issue!

[Tee]

Dodge City commissioners are facing increased pressure from constituents to keep up with the Joneses. In this case, it's Garden City.


Under a new ordinance in Garden City, those convicted of driving without a valid driver's license could be fined up to $1,000 and imprisoned for up to six months.

Repeat offenders would face mandatory jail time, specifically five days in jail for a second offense. The jail time steadily increases with each conviction, up to 270 days by the sixth conviction.


Shortly after the ordinance passed and began to receive press, Dodge City commissioners said they began receiving phone calls demanding to know why Dodge couldn’t approve a similar statute.

City officials have said they will consider it, but there are several concerns.

Much to Garden City Mayor Reynaldo Mesa's surprise, he said, he faced a huge division between those on both sides of who made it an ethnic issue.
"That wasn't the point of it at all," Mesa said Tuesday. "We simply noticed a problem with uninsured and unlicensed drivers and wanted to combat it."
Armando Minjarez, the southwest Kansas organizer for Sunshine Community Action, a low-income advocacy group, said his organization understood Garden's ordinance wasn't targeted specifically at immigrants.

"Our concern is that not only is the immigrant community hardest hit,” he said, “It will have larger effects on the community as a whole."

According to Kansas law, even those with green cards or visas who are in the country legally cannot get driver's licenses because they do not have Social Security cards.

These risks haven't escaped Dodge City Mayor Kent Smoll, who said the commission was reluctant to jump on Garden City's bandwagon.
"My concern is this is going to affect the blue-collar workers of Dodge City," he said. "I'm not talking about immigrants, illegal or legal. Just workers who will be affected."

Smoll said his concern is that after five days in jail, these people would no longer be able to return to their jobs.

Manuel Gomez, a Garden City native and student at Kansas State University, said he was concerned about the law because he is not a citizen, so he has no license.

Gomez said he would previously drive home to see his family. Now, with four citations under his belt, he said he was afraid of going to jail. "I missed my little sister's birthday for the first time in 11 years," he said. "I could have up to six months in jail. There would go my scholarship, my school, my grades."

full story:
DodgeCity.com: Dodge Globe: Local News: Stories

Well fine, so maybe we outa all just ignore the laws that make life inconvenient! ??

The way I see it Manuel, you got four choices; hitch a ride, get legal, stay home, or get out!

[Tee]

and from the GC Telegram:

A Hispanic advocacy group's effort to take issue with Garden City's increased penalties on uninsured and unlicensed drivers has caught the attention of the media. And elected officials in Dodge City and Liberal.

During a meeting of all three cities Tuesday at Liberal's Mid-American Air Museum, they said they have similar problems and expressed an interest in adopting similar mandatory jail terms for repeat offenders.

Liberal Mayor Larry Koochel suggested that all three cities adopt similar penalties to send a message that the cities are serious about drivers being licensed and having insurance. Everybody pays the price for uninsured and unlicensed drivers, especially when an accident occurs, Koochel said.

Dodge City officials said they have similar problems but voiced concern about having enough space at their current jail to accommodate an increase in prisoners.

The southwest Kansas chapter of Sunflower Community Action held a meeting Saturday to explain to the Garden City community and Mayor Reynaldo Mesa how mandatory jail terms would impact the immigrant community, because many of them cannot get a driver's license.
Mesa said during Tuesday's City Commission meeting that he would urge the group to approach the Garden City Commission at an upcoming meeting to talk about the issue further.

Mesa urged Liberal and Dodge City officials to research the effects of any increased penalties and "make sure you're doing it for the right reasons."
Garden City commissioners said the ordinance was passed with little discussion or thought, and that they didn't think of the direct impact to the immigrant community.

Told of the reaction from officials in Dodge City and Liberal, Emira Palacios, democracy school coordinator with Sunflower Community Action, said: "I really think they are acting out of ignorance. It's not fixing the problem because many of them cannot get a driver's license," Palacios said.

"Rather than trying to do something locally they need to try to go to the state, the governor. Ask Kathleen Seblieus what is her solution. They're making the problem bigger rather than fixing it."

The increased penalties came as a way for the Garden City Police Department to further focus on reducing the number of uninsured and unlicensed drivers.

Garden City Manager Bob Halloran said communities adopting stiffer penalties wouldn't solve the bigger issue of uninsured and unlicensed drivers. He also noted that Garden City has its new public transportation bus service to assist those drivers, while the other communities do not.
He suggested if the communities want to take a position on uninsured and unlicensed drivers, they should work with and encourage the state Legislature to address the problem.

Why are they driving when it is illegal to do so without a license? Could it be their flagrant disregard of the law born from our laxed position on illegal entry?

full story: Garden City Telegram Online