Cost Mesa may screen commission applicants for citizenship

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- Councilman Chris Steel asked the city attorney’s office

Tuesday to determine whether the city may legally require its

commissioners to be United States citizens, introducing yet another point

of contention into the already divisive debate about how to appoint

residents to city panels.

“I think it will be a benefit to the community if we require

citizenship screening for city employees and particularly to appointees

to the commissions,” Steel said. “The Costa Mesa City Council is the

problem because its voting record has attracted undocumented noncitizens

through our charities and job center into our rentals and schools,

lowering the quality of our schools and affecting our property values and

our crime rate. This is one of the issues I was elected on, and I’m

obligated to follow up.”

During his campaign, Steel proposed citizenship screenings as a

prerequisite for residents who want to receive services from the city’s

charities.

City employees are already required to be legal residents, but

commissioners -- who are appointed by the council, not elected -- are not

considered employees.

Huntington Beach and Santa Ana require commissioners to be registered

voters. Only citizens may register to vote. Newport Beach, like Costa

Mesa, does not require that commissioners are citizens but does require

them to be city residents.

The debate over citizenship screening began Tuesday during the

council’s second discussion on changing the way it appoints

commissioners. The council decided at its Dec. 18 meeting to end all

commission appointments in February, but it narrowly rejected two

suggestions to allow council members to individually appoint

commissioners.

The council now votes as a whole to appoint commissioners.

Councilwomen Linda Dixon and Karen Robinson, as well as Mayor Libby

Cowan, agreed they wanted to individually appoint commissioners, but they

could not agree on a process to remove commissioners from office. On

Tuesday, the council voted unanimously -- with Councilman Gary Monahan

absent -- to have city officials draft a proposed ordinance that would,

if approved, change the way commissioners are appointed. The council is

scheduled to vote on the ordinance in February.

Two council members said the debate about citizenship screening has

little to do with the method of commission appointments.

“I don’t get it,” said Monahan, who has opposed the proposed

appointment process. “I don’t know what it has to do with anything. I

think they’re missing the whole point of this thing.”

Cowan, who originally proposed a new appointment process Dec. 18, said

the citizenship discussion is a nonissue.

“People who reside in our city have a stake in our city,” she said.

“If they are citizens or have legal residency status, then I think they

should be able to fully participate in the process if that’s what they

wish to do. I really believe that it is a nonissue.”

But community members had as much to say about the idea of citizenship

screening as they did about the method of appointments.

Martin H. Millard, a longtime critic of illegal immigrants living in

the city, said at the meeting that he favors requiring commissioners to

be citizens.

“I have a real problem with the fact that we could have a person who

is a citizen of another country as a commissioner,” he said. “Citizens

have more at stake than residents who are just passing through, which is

what the term ‘residents’ suggests to me.”

Costa Mesa resident Paty Madueno, a Latino activist, said she thinks

the requirement would be a fair one.

“Nowadays, we need to comply with many policies,” she said. “I myself

am waiting for citizenship and have been unable to run for a school

district or council position because I am not yet a citizen. But I think

it’s fair. [Steel] is well-known to be someone who doesn’t want anyone

not legally in the country to live in Costa Mesa, but that is unrealistic

because people need us here to do the jobs other people don’t want to do.

But that’s his opinion, and I accept his opinion as I do anyone else’s in

this country.”

Bill Turpit, a member of the Latino Business Council, said the

requirement is unnecessary.

“I think that the council should have the flexibility to choose

whoever they believe is the most qualified,” he said. “The history of our

country includes many instances of noncitizens who have played key roles

in the development of our country. I recently saw a play about the atom

bomb that reminded me of the important role that foreign scientists

played in effectively saving the country, and I think the same concept

applies. If a particularly qualified individual is a contributing member

of our community, their particular nationality and legal status may or

may not be an important factor.”

Hector Jiminez, a Costa Mesa resident, is one of several people who

said they are undecided.

“I totally understand both sides, but I can’t say I agree with either

right now,” said Jiminez, who added that he doesn’t think the issue will

affect the Latino community because he doesn’t think a single illegal

immigrant is trying to get a commission position.

QUESTION

PUT TO THE TEST

Should cities require commissioners to be screened for citizenship

status? Call our Readers Hotline at (949) 642-6086 or send e-mail to

dailypilot@latimes.com. Please spell your name and include your hometown

and phone number, for verification purposes only.