Alan Greenblatt is a GOVERNING correspondent.
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Will Kempton, California's transportation chief, said that the state can't bar a group from its Adopt-a-Highway anti-litter program based on distaste for the group's message.
From the Sacramento Bee:
"The bottom line is there is no way to deny these folks regardless of how we feel about them," Kempton said in a meeting with a dozen Latino legislators and representatives of minority organizations. "We will lose in court if we try to eliminate these folks."
Latino lawmakers are angry that Caltrans issued a litter pickup permit to the San Diego Minutemen for a stretch of Interstate 5 that straddles a major immigration checkpoint south of San Clemente.
The group contends it is a patriotic organization that seeks to ensure U.S. immigration and border security laws are enforced. But critics contend Minutemen are racist vigilantes that use intimidation and harassment against immigrant rights activists.
"If they were people of color," said Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, D-San Diego, "they would be labeled a gang." Saldaña said she has been repeatedly harassed by group members at public events in her district.
In a telephone interview, Minutemen President Jeff Schwilk responded that "we wouldn't waste five minutes on Lori Saldaña except to respond to her wild charges that lack one bit of truth."
Written and compiled by staff writers and editors, GOVERNING View is an on-the-ground, and sometimes behind-the-scenes, look at the topics we're covering in print and online. From notes on what's up in statehouses, county courthouses and city halls, to encounters with people, places and things, GOVERNING View is a window into the side of state and local government you don't always see.
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