Candidate says his platform is about more than illegals
http://www.michigancityin.com/articles/2007/03/05/news/n3.txt
By Stan Maddux, For The News-Dispatch
Strauss
LaPORTE - He's been called a bigot and a racist, but Mike Strauss insists his campaign for mayor is not entirely about deporting the illegal aliens in LaPorte.
Illegal immigration, though, is a major part of his campaign platform, one that Strauss, 24, feels will produce good results at the polls.
“Voters in LaPorte do feel strongly about that issue,†Strauss said.
Because he's running as an independent, Strauss must collect 2 percent of the votes cast in the city for Indiana secretary of state in the November election to appear on the ballot. Over a two-day period, Strauss said he collected 33 of the 119 required signatures.
The signatures must be presented to the LaPorte County Voter Registration Office and verified by July 2.
“I actually plan to get a little bit more than that,†Strauss said.
In December, the LaPorte City Council voted down a proposal to empower local police to go out and detain illegal aliens for deportation by the federal government. Strauss helped craft the ordinance and is helping to make changes in the measure so it can be presented to the City Council again, possibly before the November general election.
If nothing is adopted then, Strauss said, the “illegal alien problem†will be a major priority of his if elected mayor.
“A lot of people have already labeled me a racist. I'm not too worried about that,†said Strauss, who denies feeling any hatred toward illegals.
Instead, Strauss said his view on the issue is simply about upholding the law, maintaining civil liberties and extending relief to overburdened local governments and schools.
“It puts an even stronger burden on the school system to not only teach their teachers Spanish but to teach other students Spanish and to teach the Spanish students English when those funds could be used to produce a higher quality education for those here legally,†he said.
The 2000 LaPorte High School graduate, who describes himself as a small business entrepreneur, said the biggest reason he entered the campaign is to get a handle on what he believes is overspending by the current administration.
He said costs can be cut to free additional money to fix more of the city's deplorable roads and sidewalks.
“Businesses aren't going to want to come into a community that has bad roads and bad sidewalks. They just look bad,†he said.
Other priorities of his include upgrading the skills of the local workforce and giving back control of local government to the citizens.