Insights into Elgin council candidates

After McCain-Palin lost and "Marine One" whisked "W" off to obscurity, I figured my ears had been exposed to their last discordant malapropisms.

Then came Wednesday night's Association For Legal Americans-sponsored Elgin City Council candidates forum. AFLA is to be congratulated for their effort in this forum, in that it actually dealt with substantive issues of concern to the community. By their own admission, they deliberately chose to voice immigration issues (their cause) lest they be branded racists by "SOAP," an Elgin organization that promotes diversity.

As the two hour forum wore on, those in attendance were exposed to the ideas and positions of the six candidates for the two-year city council seat, on issues ranging from garbage collection to population density in Elgin, from overcrowding ordinances to a replacement for the Hemmens Cultural Center. AFLA's anti-immigrant agenda surfaced only in passing when the discussion turned to city cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It became apparent rather quickly that the most viable of the six candidates were the two progressives - Brenda Rogers, who sat on the council in the past, and an energetic young attorney, Emi Morales. Both offered well-reasoned, coherent answers to the questions.

The Southwest Area Neighbors candidate, Ms. Slighting, by contrast, dazed the crowd with rhetoric that one could expect to see reprised on SNL if these people were running for national office.

Clearly AFLA's girl, Ms. Slighting delicately aligned herself with AFLA anti-immigrant positions.

Cathy Hamilton

Elgin