THE MAJORITY DID THE RIGHT THING

After a five hour meeting Monday night, the Avon Park City Council voted 3-2 to defeat a proposal by Mayor Tom Macklin which would have 1) made English the official language of the city, and the only language in which city business would be conducted, 2) fined landlords $1,000 for knowingly renting to immigrants who are in this country illegally, and 3) revoked the licenses of any business knowingly hiring illegals (Click here to read how it would have been worded).

The proposed ordinance had divided the city, in addition to causing the firing of it's city attorney after he publicly criticized it as being "poorly drafted" and unconstitutional.

Mayor Macklin championed the proposal locally after discussing the idea with his counterpart in Hazelton, Pennsylvania, which was considering a similar ordinance. Hazelton's ordinance passed July 15. Highlands County Commissioner David Flowers, a former Avon Park councilman and close friend of the mayor, said Macklin simply copied Hazleton's ordinance without doing any research and criticized him for bringing the proposal forward without any public workshop.

The decision last evening was the right thing to do.

While I by no means condone people entering this country illegally, or businesses knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, one has to admit that in this region immigrants --- legal and illegal --- do have a significant impact on the economy, mainly by doing work that many Americans will not do. This is simply not the way to eliminate the problem...it won't go away easily or soon.