Valley 187 Activist Shifts Passion to Implementation

The California flag hangs upside-down in Glenn Spencer’s hilltop home, the international SOS sign and the symbol, he says, of a state with its priorities topsy-turvy.

Until now, that is.

Spencer said last week’s passage of Proposition 187 has given California a chance to survive--by barring illegal immigrants from most government services. Passage of the ballot initiative culminates two years of effort that began on the patio of his two-story home overlooking the San Fernando Valley.

That is where Spencer--alarmed by what he said was a noticeable increase in the number of minorities in the city--began a grass-roots movement against undocumented residents, forming a group called Voice of Citizens Together. The group later joined with the so-called Save Our State campaign, and Spencer turned his home into the hub of the Proposition 187 campaign in the Valley.

His home office--equipped with four phone lines worked by volunteers, two computers and modems--has been a principal research center for issues related to illegal immigration.

Spencer said Monday his group now has a new goal--to ensure that the initiative is implemented. Working with Proposition 187 campaign chairman Ron Prince in Orange County, the group is planning a recall campaign against Los Angeles Board of Education members--likely to include President Mark Slavkin--because of their efforts to challenge the measure using public funds.

Spencer will hold a meeting Thursday at Riverside Drive Elementary School in Sherman Oaks to discuss recall plans and other legal strategies to stop city and county officials from blocking Proposition 187.

Looking out over the Valley on a sparkling morning, Spencer acknowledged that he has reluctantly been thrust into the public arena.

“I don’t enjoy this,” said the 57-year-old Spencer, a semi-retired geothermal engineer. “If this was to go away, I’d go away. But it’s got to be done.”

Illegal immigration, he said, cannot continue.

“We have people who are flooding across our borders with a very high fertility rate and a very low educational level,” he said. “We’re exporting jobs and importing poverty. And unless something is done, this state has nothing to face but fiscal havoc.”

Spencer, son of a songwriter who co-created the theme to the television show “Gunsmoke” and grandson of a member of the singing group Sons of the Pioneers, said the federal government should give illegal immigrants free transportation and a cash bonus for returning to their native countries.

Parents of children born in this country should be included as well, he said.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials, who last week won a temporary injunction against Proposition 187’s implementation in schools, said the district could lose up to $650 million in federal funds if they are forced to question students’ legal status. Under the measure, schools would be required to verify the immigration status of students and their parents.

Board members said they believe any recall effort will fail and Proposition 187 ultimately will be declared unconstitutional.

“In the end, I think that people will find that upholding the Constitution is not something for which people should be punished,” Slavkin said. “People are in an angry mood and are looking for targets to vent their anger.”

A recall initiative against board members requires the signatures of 15% of the registered voters in the board district. Slavkin’s district, for example, which includes a portion of the West Valley, has about 350,000 voters.

Getting the signatures, Spencer said, will not be a problem due to the groundswell of voter support for Proposition 187. More than 60% of Valley voters cast their ballots in support, according to exit polls conducted by The Times.

Spencer, who grew up in Hollywood and attended city schools before graduating from Cal State Northridge, said the school district waged a campaign against Proposition 187, which backfired.

The student walkouts over the past month and comments by board members opposing the initiative has turned people against the schools, he said.

“Can you imagine--with all these demonstrations and Mexican flags--any bond issues passed in California ever again?” Spencer asked. “Public schools are essentially finished for all intents and purposes. The public won’t finance them, they won’t pay for them.”

District officials denied waging a campaign on campuses but were plain in telling parents that Proposition 187 would hurt schools. While district officials say they don’t know exactly how many students are in the county illegally, they believe the number could be about 100,000. Spencer puts the figure closer to 200,000, although both sides concede there is no official tally.

Prince, the Tustin accountant who ran the Proposition 187 campaign, said Spencer played an important role.

“His research has been very significant in informing the public about the problem of illegal immigration,” Prince said. Spencer’s group was instrumental in gathering signatures to qualify the ballot initiative and later in campaigning for its passage.

Spencer, whose wife is a school district librarian, said he has spent years gathering reports and compiling databases on illegal immigration. He shows a visitor large posters tracking the birthrates, as well as birthplaces, of women who have given birth in Los Angeles County during the past several years.

He says his interest in the subject was sparked about two years ago when he began noticing that an influx in minorities had flooded the city. He compiled research and launched a newsletter that he circulated among his neighbors.

Ultimately, he formed Valley Citizens Together, but the group changed its name after residents from other parts of Los Angeles wanted to get involved. Spencer counts about 2,000 members but admits that not all pay the group’s $15 to $25 annual dues.

Since the passage of Proposition 187--which was backed by 59% of voters statewide--Spencer said his phones have been ringing constantly with calls from people who are upset that the measure is being challenged in court. “The support is incredible. The phones are ringing off the hook--even over the weekend.”

When asked what motivates him, Spencer points to the photos of his two blond, blue-eyed grandchildren on the mantel in his orderly living room.

“What I’d like to achieve is a little better world for my grandchildren,” he said. “I don’t want my grandchildren to live in chaos. Isn’t that enough?”