CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / PROPOSITION 187 : Valley Business Groups Back Measure

After an emotionally charged debate that continued for months, representatives of the San Fernando Valley’s 21 chambers of commerce voted this week to support Proposition 187--the controversial state initiative seeking to restrict health and education benefits for illegal immigrants.

The chamber members, representing more than 8,500 mostly small and medium-size Valley businesses, had been split over support of the measure because they disagreed whether Proposition 187 would do what proponents say it will.

Chamber representatives said they agreed that illegal immigration has become a costly local problem that is being ignored by government decision-makers. But they differed on how to approach the problem.

“People are saying, ‘I don’t like this Third World takeover,’ ” said Guy Weddington McCreary, a North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce member favoring the initiative. “It is literally an invasion and very upsetting.”

But others countered that the Valley’s lingering economic troubles, as well as demographic and other social changes, are not likely to be reversed with the passage of Proposition 187. They cite additional costs and responsibilities the measure would create. Besides restricting government services, it would also require local school and medical authorities to report suspected illegal immigrants.

“We didn’t feel that requiring medical and educational personnel to be INS cops was appropriate,” said James Stewart, member of the Mid-San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce, which voted against support of Proposition 187. “We know we have an illegal immigration problem. But the solution is to do a better job at the border. This doesn’t do anything besides create more bureaucracy.”

The vote Wednesday supporting the initiative by the San Fernando Valley’s United Chambers of Commerce was 15 to 10. (Some of the larger chamber groups get more than one vote). It was largely symbolic, but chamber members say the debate has been among the most emotional in recent memory.

“A couple of people got really hot about it and that’s not real common,” Stewart said.

Chamber members said they did not believe support of the measure would cost them customers because of its broad support.

In fact, Valley business owners who support the measure say it has caught fire among longtime residents who are unhappy with growing numbers of lower-income residents, many of them Latinos, now living in the sprawling Los Angeles suburb that was once nearly all-white and predominantly middle class.

McCreary--who says his family moved to North Hollywood 107 years ago and was instrumental in its development--said support for the measure is largely based on economics.

He said many taxpayers fear paying increasingly larger shares of their income to support the families of illegal immigrants.

But the measure is about more than money, McCreary said.

“These people move in here, they aren’t being assimilated. . . .” said McCreary, who works as a property manager. “We’ve got to get a handle on it, or else.”

That kind of talk is fueling a lot of support for the measure, said Scott Macdonald, spokesman for Taxpayers Against 187. “But the 187 doesn’t solve the problem. It does nothing at the border,” he said.

The Woodland Hills Chamber of Commerce--the Valley’s largest with 1,000 members--agrees. They voted to oppose Proposition 187, saying it would do little to reduce illegal immigration and, with restrictions on medical care, could makes matter worse. Debate over support of the measure was also split, but members agreed that illegal immigration is a problem that government has been unable to fix.

The Woodland Hills Chamber of Commerce is the largest entity within the Valley’s united chambers.

Results of a statewide Times Poll released earlier this week show that Proposition 187 is supported by virtually all groups, including Latino voters. Among all registered voters, the measure is favored 62% to 28%, an overwhelming margin.

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce is scheduled to discuss support of the initiative next week.