City Beat: Council sweeps E-Verify off the city books

A council once divided on enforcing E-Verify employment software at businesses across the city unanimously repealed the voter-approved ordinance.

Saying the bill was riddled with illegal language, Springfield City Council opted Dec. 17 to repeal the measure altogether and eliminate controversy over the free federal employment verification software.

In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought by members of the business community who took issue with provisions in the law penalizing businesses that wouldn’t agree to use the software or might not have properly responded to allegations that the software isn’t being used. The suit was filed in May, three months after the measure’s narrow approval by citizens.

In the settlement, the city agreed to remove portions of the bill, such as certain monetary penalties, it deemed illegal. At the Dec. 17 meeting, council members had two options: pass a “clean-up” bill that effectively gutted the ordinance or it.

Before the vote, two council members expressed concern about the message it could send to residents to completely remove the ordinance from the books.

Councilman Jerry Compton said the top 10 employers in Springfield already use the system designed to ensure workers are eligible to be employed in the United States, and expelling the ordinance could be seen as a repudiation of the practice. Councilman Scott Bailes said he didn’t like the idea of eliminating an ordinance approved by voters, indicating it would be the second time in recent history council had moved to alter a voter-approved measure. In May, council approved a series of amendments to the city’s smoking ordinance ahead of a ballot measure calling for the repeal of the ordinance in June.

“I don’t feel good about that,” Bailes said.

Mayor Bob Stephens, Councilman Doug Burlison and Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky, however, felt it was important to remove all remnants of the old bill.

“This was just a messy piece of legislation,” Rushefsky said, pointing to broad definitions of a “business entity” and “unlawful worker.” “It just needs to be off the books.”

State Farm Insurance agent Joe Robles, who was one of four parties that successfully sued the city from enforcing the ordinance in full, asked for a repeal, a move that required unanimous council support.

“The law we have bears no resemblance to the original ordinance,” said Robles.

A Springfield-based volunteer group known as Ozarks Minutemen brought the measure before council last year, saying the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services software would curb hiring of illegal workers in the city.

Ozarks Minutemen spokesman Jerry Wilson said after the repeal vote the group would not pursue another initiative petition because it feels council is adept at circumventing the will of the people and the group’s efforts would be in vain. “This council has proven repeatedly that it truly answers to no one,” Wilson said. “The council seeks to find ways to get around the will of the electorate.”

Wilson said he believes voters, if given a chance, would oppose the use of red-light cameras and adding gender identity or sexual orientation to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance – matters he said several council members support.

After a March 2010 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that found flaws in the way the city handled red-light camera ordinance violations, City Council reconsidered adopting changes to make the system legal earlier this year before tabling the issue. On proposed changes to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance, council tabled the matter following heated debate, opting to establish a task force to review and recommend possible changes. That 18-member task force was formally established Dec. 19.

Wilson also contends council’s efforts to increase the number of voter signatures needed to forward an initiative petition discourages groups from pursuing the changes it wants to see in city governance. A measure approved by voters in August now requires initiative petitions secure 7 percent of all registered voters in the city, changing from 10 percent of voters who participated in the previous election.

“The odds are now stacked against anyone who attempts to promote an initiative petition in Springfield,” Wilson said.

Not going Solo
Council unanimously approved a redevelopment plan brought by Warren Davis Properties that earns the developer and commercial property owner $16 million in projected property tax abatement tied to the former Solo Cup plant. The plan called for a declaration of blight on the facility and two adjacent buildings that comprise nearly 1.3 million square feet in central Springfield.

Davis Properties plans to invest $36.6 million into the facilities during the next four to six years to attract tenants to the former Solo space and retain tenants at its adjacent properties – a 408,000-square-foot warehouse occupied by John Deere Reman at 2065 E. Pythian St., and a 230,000-square-foot warehouse occupied by Springfield Redevelopment Corp. at 1926 E. Chestnut Expressway.

The developer plans to subdivide the 735,000-square-foot former Solo Cup plant into sections to attract 16 to 20 tenants, for office, warehouse or manufacturing use, ranging from 15,000 square feet to 420,000 square feet. The improvements also include new docks on the Chestnut Expressway building and adding a 6,000-square-foot office building.

Council granted 100 percent property tax abatement on improvements at the three facilities for 10 years, as well as 50 percent tax abatement on improvements for the following 15 years.