(Published Thursday, June 21, 2007 10:14:14 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Associated Press
GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Mayor's Hispanic Advisory Council says it is severing ties to the mayor's office in the wake of the adoption of an ordinance that would allow taking away licenses, contracts and other grants from the city to any business that hires illegal immigrants.
"Needless to say, we are extremely disappointed by the (city) council's vote, and so we are divorcing ourselves from the mayor's office as an organization," advisory council chairman Matt Hollenbeck said Wednesday.
The advisory council was one of a number of Hispanic and religious organizations that opposed the ordinance.
The advisory council, consisting of nine members, was formed about 10 years ago by former Mayor Paul Jadin to try to bridge the gap between the city and its growing Hispanic community, but Hollenbeck said there's been little support from the current administration under Mayor Jim Schmitt.
The advisory council will change its name to the Hispanic Community Council of Northeastern Wisconsin and expand to become more regional in scope, he said.
Schmitt said the city acted out of frustration with President Bush and Congress over their failure to deal with illegal immigration.
"Had the federal government done its job, we wouldn't have this issue and we wouldn't have to go have good people disagreeing," he said.
Schmitt said that the issue is an emotional one on which he has heard opinions both for and against wherever he went.
Schmitt said he thinks it's "healthy" for the advisory council to grow and become more regional.
But the mayor also called the ordinance "the right thing to do for our city."
