Hiding from truth of no enforcement

Elgin's mayor, city council and city purchasing director have stated that all contracts for outside services performed on behalf of the city require all contractors and their employees be legally allowed to work in this country.

The question put to the mayor and the members of our city council asked: Would you enforce the employment laws requiring legal employment status?

Councilman Juan Figueroa said the program E-Verify is under court order in Illinois not to be used. Nice move, Juan, ducking behind the court. Bob Gilliam and Dave Kaptain both restated that all city contracts require legal employees. That really worked for Mitt Romney in the last Republican presidential debate.

Mike Powers hides securely behind the court and Mitt Romney when he states, E-Verify is held up by the courts, and all contracts have legal clauses.

Mayor Ed Schock and Councilman John Steffen tap dance like Gene Kelly. John Walters also wants to hide behind the courts and the clause in purchase contracts requiring legal employees.

Let me understand: I'm in the country illegally already, so of course I will answer truthfully about my work status.

According to Purchasing Director Gail Cohen, she would investigate and enforce the laws if a complaint is filed, but she stated no complaints have been forwarded to the city.

The mayor and council want to hide behind each other and want someone else to enforce our laws.

Basic Pilot/E-Verify is a program supported by the federal government that will, with the use of Social Security numbers, determine eligibility to work in this country. This program was being used in Elgin to screen new hires until the state prohibited it.

The state is wrong, and will be found wrong by the courts. The city should defy the state and use screening programs approved by the federal government, which is responsible for immigration enforcement.

If we really wanted to fix our contractor labor problem, the council would require all companies wanting to do business with Elgin to become a voluntary member of the IMAGE program.

This program states that all contractors will give the city purchasing department a full and complete list of all their employees and allow screening by the federal government.

If a citizen, while investigating a company for non-compliance with service contracts for Elgin, is injured, can those injuries be charged to the city since that person would be a de facto employee of the city purchasing department, helping Gail and her staff verify the accuracy of the labor clauses of city purchase contracts?

Ernie Ebner

Elgin