CornucopiaFlag.jpgWith the recent brouhaha over Santa Clarita City Councilman Bob Kellar’s remarks on illegal immigration several weeks ago at a local rally, the City Council election is off to a fast and nasty start. The candidates and their supporters, for the most part, let their intentions be known as to who they will or will not support and how downright dirty this election cycle will be.

In some sense Bob Kellar’s remarks, regardless of the choice of words, was the flash point for the upcoming election. It showcased again, at least to me, that the current Santa Clarita City Council is ready for some change. The City Council is stale and many of the incumbents have their heads in the sand.

It was laughable to see some of the reactions from Kellar’s fellow Council members. Laurie Ender was “shocked” by the comments; Laurene Weste gave a “no comment”; Marsha McLean did her best to distance herself from the whole thing; and of course Frank Ferry gave a dissertation on his Republican credentials and invoked God to justify illegal immigrants.

Ferry is one of the three incumbents; Marsha McLean and Laurene Weste are the other two that are up for re-election to another 4 year term. All three have been in office for the better part of the last ten years and all three have shown that they lack a real vision for the City of Santa Clarita and the entire Santa Clarita Valley.

What none of them were willing to do or had the guts to do was to support their fellow Council member and state the obvious that Kellar’s remarks were facetious; taken out of context. Nor were any of the Council members willing to have a discussion about the illegal alien issue that is prevalent in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Instead, it was time to kick off the April election with jockeying around a subject and important issue that no one seems to want to deal with either nationally or locally; illegal immigration. A hot topic that many are afraid to take a position on because they will be branded a ‘racist’ or ‘bigot’ by those that think it is okay to allow some people to break the law.

But the real action came at the end of the City Council meeting when Councilman Frank Ferry told City Council Candidate Gauny that he would “bury” him in the upcoming election. Frank didn’t stop there; he also said he was coming after Gauny’s campaign manager as well while shouting out threats.

(Remember, Ferry came to a west side Town Council meeting a decade ago and told residents that if they didn’t annex then the City would “bury” the unincorporated residents. Please note that all the communities west of I-5 are still in the unincorporated are of the Santa Clarita Valley.)

Yep, Frank Ferry made it clear that he was going to get down in the mud and do whatever it takes to win. He’ll lie, smear, and make up anything and everything to win. Oh don’t worry; he’ll make sure that some of the real hit pieces are not from him directly so he can claim ignorance with smirk and wink.

Frank’s outburst last week was in direct response to Gauny’s public comments requesting that the City Council take a position on illegal immigration.

And that is the real story here folks; Ferry didn’t take kindly to being put on the spot about illegal immigrates. That’s because Councilman Frank Ferry is okay with illegal immigration and does not want the City do anything about it. He has that position because he is the Principle of Alemany High School which is a Catholic school that is part of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles headed by Cardinal Roger Mahony; Frank’s boss!

In 2006, the Washington Post reported that Cardinal Mahony; …”attacked a House bill that would turn most people and institutions that aid illegal immigrants into felons. Calling it “blameful, vicious” legislation, Mahony vowed a campaign of civil disobedience in the archdiocese’s 288 parishes if it becomes law.”     

Councilman Frank Ferry isn’t going to go against the boss! No way, he would much rather let his employer dictate his City Council positions on important issues. Forget about representing his constituents, the residents of the City of Santa Clarita.

I guess with Frank Ferry there is no separation of Church and State!

Just take a moment to watch the video, on the lower left side of this site, of Frank in action. Honestly, is this the type of person that you want representing your City?

At the next Santa Clarita City Council meeting ask the question again during the public comment section; ask each Council member what their position is on illegal immigration.

Dave Bossert- Commentary

Dave Bossert is a community volunteer who serves on a number of boards and councils. His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon