Heated debate erupts at Glendora town hall focusing on sanctuary state law

Gary Gileno films Sate of California Legislative Analyts Office Anita Lee as she speaks during the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
Glendora police detective Mike Howell stands watch during the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
SoundThe gallery will resume inseconds
Walnut resident Jesse Hernandez uses his phone to film during the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Commander Elier Morejon speaks during the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
Glendora Appointed Contact City Attorney William Wynder speaks during the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
Town hall rules are displayed on monitors during the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
Sate of California Legislative Analyts Office Anita Lee speaks during the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
Glendora Mayor Mendell Thompson speaks to a packed room during the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
Teri Merrick speaks during the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
Glendora Mayor Mendell Thompson speaks during the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
Glendora resident Bruce Peters holds up a sign during the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
SB54 protesters Raul Rodriguez and Robin Hvidston are pictured with their posters before the start of the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
Anti-SB54 posters are pictured before that start of the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
Protestors against SB54 walk banners around the room before the start of the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
Glendora resident Rick Viera arrives early before the start of the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
A poster with the code of conduct is pictured outside before the start of the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
A sign indicating the direction for attendees to go to is pictured before the start of the SB54 Town Hall Meeting at the Glendora Public Library in Glendora, Calif. on Thursday October 11, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Show Caption of Expand

A Glendora town hall meeting intended to inform the community about SB 54 – the so-called sanctuary state law – devolved into a series of heated exchanges from people on both sides of the issue Thursday.

As part of the town hall, panelists City Attorney William Wynder, Anita Lee, principal fiscal and policy analyst for the nonpartisan State Legislative Analysts Office and Los Angeles County Sheriffs Commander Elier Morejon described the background, content and litigation surrounding the law.

Signed into law last year, SB 54 limits interaction between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials — with exceptions, including cases that involve violent or “serious” felonies.

The town hall did not address the citys closed-session vote in May to seek to file an friend-of-the-court brief related to the U.S. Governments lawsuit against the State of California challenging SB 54.

“The purpose of this town hall is to enlighten us, to allow us to learn, to allow us to hear something maybe we didnt know, and hopefully well all go out with a better assessment of what SB 54 is,” said Mayor Mendell Thompson as the meeting opened.

However, after the panelists provided their information, the floor was opened for the more than 100 people in attendance to ask questions of the panelists. A majority of those who spoke were not from Glendora, and many used their time to voice their opinions on the law instead of to ask questions.

Torrance resident Arthur Schaper, who attends meetings across Southern California to rail against the law, said the City Council should fire Wynder because he has not suggested Glendora become a charter city instead of a general-law city. An Orange County judge recently found that Huntington Beach eed not comply with the sanctuary state law because its charter gives it the sovereignty to decide if it wishes to comply.

“The city attorney is furthering his own agenda instead of doing whats right for the residents,” Schaper said.

Other attendees made outbursts that nearly prompted police action. When resident Teri Merrick asked what residents could do to bridge the divide in the city, a man opposed to SB 54 shouted out, “Promptly shoot all the illegals.”

The man declined to identify himself when later approached by a member of this news organization.

The idea of the city hosting a town hall was first discussed July 10, when Merrick and other members of the community confronted the council about a vote it took in secret on May 8 to support the Trump administrations legal challenge to SB 54.

In May, the council voted 4-1 to send a friend-of-the-court brief that was ultimately not accepted by the court. The news, slow to get out, prompted Glendora residents to shame city leaders for making the decision without public input.

At the July 24 City Council meeting, Wynder said that the brief the city submitted to the court did not seek to endorse or decry SB 54, just to ask that the judge make a prompt decision.

However, a brief filed June 8 in federal court — asking permission to submit the so-called amicus brief — paints a different picture. In it, Glendora joins with the Orange County cities of Yorba Linda, Aliso VIejo and Laguna Niguel and the San Diego County city of Escondido — along with West Covina Councilman Mike Spence, acting independently — in saying they felt “compelled to support the federal sovereign over the state sovereign in this dispute.”

The cities say Californias sanctuary-state law restricts their ability to “exercise their police power as they see fit” and their First Amendment rights of free speech and petition.

On June 11, a federal judge denied the cities efforts to have a say, indicating only those parties the court had expressly permitted could submit a friend-of-the-court brief.

Merrick, in offering a general comment instead of asking a question at the town hall, asked that the city take no further action regarding the law, saying that the initial action was not representative of all Glendora residents.

“As private citizens, we have a right and responsibility to fight for laws we think correct,” Merrick said.

Wynder responded, saying that the city did not actually submit a brief because the motion was denied. He added that while the City Council could vote to take further action, he suspected it would not, given the volume of briefs that have already been submitted on behalf of both sides of the lawsuit challenging the law.