'I vote no'

With three words late Tuesday night, Fremont Mayor “Skip” Edwards cast a vote to kill a proposed ordinance targeting illegal immigrants.

“I vote no,” Edwards said as the crowd that endured the

four hour, 30 minute meeting erupted in cheers.

It was the last turn on the road to a decision about the ordinance that would have prohibited harboring, renting to and hiring illegal immigrants.

More than 1,000 people packed Fremont High School’s McPherson Auditorium to hear 3 1/2 hours of testimony for and against the proposed ordinance from Fremont residents and residents of other communities, including some from Iowa and one man from Hastings. Only about half remained by the end of the testimony.

Tuesday night’s meeting was to be the second reading of the proposed ordinance, but by a 7-1 vote, council members suspended the rules, putting the matter to a vote of the council.

With a 4-4 vote among council members, Edwards cast a rare vote, defeating the proposed ordinance.

Council members Charlie Janssen, Mary Marsh, Scott Schaller and Bob Warner voter to approved the ordinance; John Anderson, Gary Bolton, Scott Getzschman and Jon Gilry voted against it.

Edwards read from a prepared statement before casting the vote.

“Control of illegal immigration is a federal issue,” Edwards said. “I’m bound by the law, too. All of us want something done to correct the situation. We can help best by pressuring the U.S. government to take action.”

“This has weighed very heavy on me,” Edwards said before reading his prepared statement. “I’ve done a lot of research. Everyone -- including myself -- is against illegals. That’s not the issue.”

The issue, he explained, was a proposed ordinance that would defy the Nebraska Attorney General, a pair of additional attorneys with which city staff have consulted and the federal government. Such an ordinance would draw the city into “very expensive” legal battles that the city can’t afford on an already tight budget.

More than 70 people spoke during the public comment segment of the meeting, split nearly in half among those in favor of the proposed ordinance and those opposed to it.

Feeding off of a pair of residents’ comments to end the debate Tuesday night, Getzschman asked City Attorney Dean Skokan if the council could vote to suspend the rules without city staff recommendation and without it being announced ahead of time.

Skokan said it would take a three-fourths vote of the council present -- or a super majority of six votes. The lone descending vote to suspend the rules came from Warner, who started pushing for the proposed ordinance back in mid spring.

Bolton, who gave a second to Getzschman’s motion to suspend the rules, said this has not been a simple issue.

“I heard things on both sides that I agreed with tonight,” Bolton said. “I heard things on both sides that I knew were false and did not agree with. What you are asking us to do is pass something that is illegal and unconstitutional.

“I am very frustrated about our national problem of illegal immigration. The federal government passes laws that they fail to enforce.”

At the same time, local law enforcement agencies are not allowed to enforce federal immigration laws, Bolton continued. That combination adds to the frustrations.

Anderson said the proposed ordinance seemed more clear to him.

“This proposed ordinance is a criminal law,” said Anderson, a former officer with the Fremont Police Department. “The chief law enforcement officer in the state of Nebraska is the attorney general. He’s already given us his opinion that he is against this.”

Attorney General Jon Bruning supports a 1997 opinion from then-Attorney General Don Stenberg which states federal law preempts any state or local law that would impose civil or criminal sanctions on anyone who employs an illegal immigrant.

Security was heavy for the meeting, which was moved to the high school’s auditorium because of the anticipated crowds. More than 35 law enforcement were on hand for the meeting.

Those entering the building had to walk through portable metal detectors.

One member of the audience was escorted out of the building for not following the rules of conduct that had been set for the meeting.