Gordon idle as violence escalates over day labor center
By Linda Bentley | July 23, 2008
'This fight is too important to watch from the sidelines’
PHOENIX – Since he finally took notice the recall effort against him was dead serious, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon addressed his “friends” in a letter posted on friendsforphil gordon.com, a political committee trying to save his job.
He wrote, “The people of Phoenix want a mayor and city council that will focus on addressing the challenges of education, jobs and public safety.”
Citizens who have been protesting the Macehualli Work Center, an unpermitted hiring hall for illegal aliens near Cave Creek and Bell roads, for the past seven months or more, say they couldn’t agree with the mayor more and say that’s why they working to recall Gordon.
“This fight is too important to watch from the sidelines,” wrote Gordon.
However, that’s exactly what Gordon and the city council have done.
On Monday, as protesters and recall signature gatherers resumed their peaceful protest in front of the day labor center, a potential employer of illegal aliens jumped out of his vehicle and shoved a gun in a woman protester’s face, as he tried to grab her camera.
He apparently wanted to commence illegal hiring without it being documented.
When another protestor yelled out for someone to call 911, Brandy Baron said she was already on the phone.
Hearing her on the phone, the “employer” took off without appropriating the camera or anyone getting hurt.
When the police arrived, they took down the witnesses’ information and headed into the day labor center to talk to anyone else who may have witnessed the incident.
Baron said the people inside the day labor center were cheering the gunman on.
The protestors did get a couple of pictures of his vehicle as he took off and a picture of him with his arm outstretched when he was holding a gun in the protestor’s face, except his hand holding the gun was blocked in the photo by another protestor’s hat.
Their still pictures were compiled into a short video that was on You Tube.
Citizens of Phoenix have been protesting the day labor center, which the city illegally funded with Community Development Block Grant money and other funds.
However, the city was later advised by its counsel that the day labor center, which facilitates the illegal employment of unauthorized workers, is not something the city may fund with taxpayer money.
The Macehualli Work Center was started as an experiment to try to get the hordes of illegal aliens off the streets and off businesses’ private property along Bell and Cave Creek roads.
After more than five years, the day labor center has proven to be a failed experiment. It was granted a variance in violation of the statutory requirements to allow one, it violates federal immigration laws, those who utilize its services violate federal immigration laws, federal and state employment laws, and last, but not least, it is operating in violation of the city’s ordinance with regard to its temporary use permit, which may be granted for up to 12 months and renewed for no more than 12 months. The TUP has been expired for years now.
The city’s code enforcement department, despite receiving numerous complaints to that effect, has not acted.
Mayor Phil Gordon can’t claim he is unaware of all of these factors, as it has been brought to the city’s attention on numerous occasions by citizens as well as Judicial Watch, a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.
Gordon has played the race card when anyone complains about the illegal day labor center, calling even American citizens of Mexican and Jewish heritage neo-Nazis, white supremacists and hate mongers, while completely ignoring the simple fact the center is operating on an expired permit that is un-renewable.
Protesters have watched illegal activity breed even more illegal activity until it has escalated to the point where criminals and illegal aliens seem to be prevailing as privileged over citizens.
Once again, Gordon is sitting on the sidelines, ignoring the single-most important issue facing his city, which has become a leader in identity theft and document fraud as well as the violent human and drug smuggling hub for the entire country, as citizens ambitiously collect signatures to end his political career.
Photo captions: (top) This man is holding a gun (obscured by hat) in the face of a protester in front of the Macehualli Work Center (below). He tried to appropriate the woman’s camera so he wouldn’t be photographed picking up illegal workers, while day laborers inside the center cheered him on. The man didn’t get the camera and fled when he heard someone call 911. No one was hurt.
(top) Courtesy Photo/Brandy Baron
(lower) Photo by Linda Bentley