Prop. 187 Adviser to Help Florida Groups

Political consultant Robert Kiley, who helped direct the successful Proposition 187 campaign, will head to Florida next month to advise groups who want to enact similar legislation in that state.

“I guarantee that it will be as lively a debate in Florida as it was in California,” Kiley said Wednesday.

Kiley, 46, is being brought to the state by Floridians for Immigration Control, which held its first meeting in July and has about 200 members. He will also be meeting with other groups that want to draft legislation similar to Proposition 187, which denies public services, such as education, social services and non-emergency medical care, to illegal immigrants.

“We were contacted by these people in the middle of our campaign in California and they were watching with great interest what’s been happening,” Kiley said.

The Yorba Linda resident expects to have his hands full, since Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles has said he is against legislation like Proposition 187.

“The governor has always believed that you don’t punish the refugees or the communities by denying people health care and turning children out of classrooms,” said Jo Miglino, a Chiles spokeswoman.

Floridians for Immigration Control will need 429,428 signatures by August, 1996, to get the measure on the ballot. That’s 8% of the Florida electorate in the last presidential election.

Nancy Jacobs, co-founder of Floridians for Immigration Control, declined to comment on the hiring of Kiley.

Kiley said he will meet with leaders from Floridians for Immigration Control and other groups to advise them on a number of issues, including: identifying funding sources, setting up volunteers, setting up telephone and fax networks and setting up direct mail programs.

Kiley had never managed a major statewide campaign until this year. He had previously focused on local measures and the City Council election of his wife, Yorba Linda Councilwoman Barbara Kiley.

Kiley said he will be in Florida for at least four days in January, but does not know how much he will be paid for his services.