Dear J-
Escondido is one of the larger cities in San Diego County; granted, at times the whole San Diego metropolitan region seems like it could be one giant city, especially the coast (developed from Camp Pendleton to the border, a stretch of at least fifty miles), but Escondido technically remains a city of its own, mayor, council, and all the rest of the trappings.
If they revoke your license for too many common-sense violations, moving or otherwise, I believe they need to take away the Escondido city charter for one too many wastes of money and resources. They already had to abandon a ban on renting to illegal immigrants as unenforceable (and unconstitutional besides), and now they’re trying to cram a few more down the pipes of their citizens. Not only do they have a driver’s license checkpoint (random times and places, like a sobriety check — now boasting a 2% success rate!), they now want to ban overnight street parking.
There’s a house around the corner from us that sat vacant for the better part of a year — first for sale, then when that didn’t pan out, up for rent (and even that took several months to fill). Since taking up residency, the new occupants park no fewer than six vehicles in and around the house. It’s a fairly big house for San Diego — four bedrooms, fifteen hundred square feet — but the rent they were asking for was north of our mortgage payment. I understand why it might take six salaries to afford it, and I’m much happier seeing it occupied. It’s clear that the proposed Escondido ordinance is targeted at immigrants, illegal or not, many of whom live in extended families and for familiarity and economics, choose to live together as crowded as college students might.
I suppose the thought process goes something like, well, if we make it unattractive to come here, then they’ll either keep moving or go back. But I happen to believe the supposed drain on our resources is minor compared to the costs of enforcing the ordinances. And it’s always a precarious position to stake out the moral and legal high ground when your claim to ownership hinges on questionable deals dating back to 1492.
I in my most cynical times say that the job of a politician is election and re-election. Government must serve all its people; we entrust it with tremendous power and blind faith, at times, believing that it’s nuanced enough to listen to the smallest and strong enough to overpower the biggest. This kind of politics is so despicably pandering to those fears inside all of us that I can’t imagine how these clowns ever won council seats, let alone having the political capital to grandstand on them. It’s too easy to make political hay on a scapegoat’s back — just ask the Pilgrims, Jews, Hmong … it’s a slippery slope.
Mike
