What if your license is expired? It gets impounded and you have 20 days to get it renewed. If your vehicle is impounded, you will have 30 days to post a $2,500. bond (and pay a $200.00 impound fee) to get it released. The city keeps the bond for a year, and if an unlicensed driver is found to operate your car, you lose the car and the bond.
Whose idea was this? Some guy named Daniel Hayes, who opposes undocumented residents and doesn't even live in Denver.
The Denver City Council has passed a resolution urging voters to reject it. For one thing, it will cost $1.6 million a year to enforce. Even the Mayor, police chiefs and county sheriffs oppose it. If you live in Denver, you need to vote. Vote No on Initiative 300.
Ethics Watch has followed Hayes' failed attempts to get the initiative on the ballot in Aurora and Lakewood. He spends thousands of dollars getting people to gather signatures.
It only took 3,472 signatures to make the Denver ballot. (Ruling here.)
A phone bank effort to defeat the initiative is underway. Given the probable low turnout for this election, it's important to get the word out.
On a related note, props to Rep. Jared Polis for opposing federal measure 287(g), granting broad immigration enforcement powers to local law enforcement agencies.
287(g) scares victims and witnesses of crimes to avoid contacting police for fear of being mistreated. 287(g) invites exploitation by those who know that they won’t be reported to police, because it combines the contradictory duties into the same police force.
What is the result? A sweep of terror that has frightened legal and undocumented immigrants into hiding, undermining both law enforcement efforts across our country. 287(g) programs undermine the spirit and text of the U.S. Constitution, and I encourage Congress to repeal 287 (g).
Final note on Denver's ballot initiatives: We sure have some nutty people here. Check out this intiative to create an Extraterritorial Affairs Commission to increase awareness of potential encounters with Extraterritorial Intelligent Beings and their vehicles, and to fund it with grants, gifts and donations. From the Denver Election Commission site:
Completed petitions for the extraterrestrial affairs initiative were turned in to the Denver Elections Division September 4, 2009. The Division completed signature verification on September 29, 2009, and deemed the petition insufficient. Proponents have until November 2, 2009 to cure the insufficiency by turning in additional valid signatures.
