City meeting was real show

If you missed the Costa Mesa City Council meeting on Dec. 6 (and into Dec. 7) -- and I mean you were not there in person -- you missed a real show. Most of the exciting stuff was not on the tape.

There was everything you might expect to hear, and many things you wouldn’t.

There were threats, profanity, pleading and verbal abuse, and then it was time for public speaking.

The usual suspects, the American Civil Liberties Union and Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, were there threatening to increase their billable hours; four different speakers threatened the city with Rodney King-type riots; five people indicated that this new law would increase spousal abuse; and the rest of the 200 or so speakers used various and sundry arguments to convince the council that police officers should or should not question people about their immigration status.

Numerous speakers used the argument that those who employ illegal immigrantsshould be arrested, not the workers. The argument was that if the employers did not hire illegal immigrants, they would not come here illegally. I can guarantee you that if council proposed that law, you would not be able to fit all the speakers into the Rose Bowl.

The same speakers who suggested employer punishment on Dec. 6 and 7 would now be against it, reasoning that it would be taking jobs away from the people who need them most. On top of that, you would have every construction, manufacturing, landscaping, etc. company from Newport Beach and Costa Mesa paying overtime to their employees to show up to speak against it.

Typical of Costa Mesa City Council meetings, the meeting lasted until the wee hours; Channel 2 news was there, but since there were still people left to speak at air time, the results were not on the 11 p.m. news. It looked like there were about five different news organizations taking pictures. It was a zoo.

But in the end it was a great show. You really should show up for the council meetings -- the television and tapes show only a small portion of what is actually happening. And the admission is free, but bring your own popcorn.

JUDITH M. BERRY

Costa Mesa