Mayor, Council,

As a consumer of news, your story of booing bus loads of foreign woman and children who didn't speak English caught my attention. They arrived at of your municipality only to be jeered and boo'd by good Murrieta citizens holding sign wishing they go away.

My God. From the looks of it, you should not be too proud. There are other ways to foster economic development without the appearance of the message you've nurtured there.

Here's a future sign upon crossing over into your fair city… "Welcome to Murrieta, where the locals run off people who don't look like you!

Way to go,

Thank you for your email. As Murrieta's newest Council member just sworn in last Tuesday (there's a lot to be said for timing), I share your concerns. Our city is suffering today as the result of federal malfeasance on the issue of immigration. I know our city to be a compassionate city full of caring people whom, with the exception of our Native Americans, are all products of immigrants at some point in our history. Legal immigrants.

And I deplore the presence of outside activists and agitators who are drawn to the media magnet our city has become to espouse their radical and racist agenda without regard for their own impact on our city. Naturally the media focuses on this extreme and vocal minority with no effort to present a fair and balanced portrayal of our community. I have Implored locals participating in the protests, to keep it orderly and positive, to present the community as a model of reason and progress. We are protesting failed federal policies, not these poor folks. As I have been interviewed over the past few days by outlets as diverse as CNN and Al Jazeera, I have consistently tried to portray our community in only the most positive light, the 8th safest city in the county, a caring and progressive city with a quality of life that is the envy of many.

But it's a difficult path to tread in the media narrative - either the protesters win, in which case we are all racists and bigots, or the police clamp down, in which case we are jackbooted thugs trampling on free speech. Emotions in the community are running very high and our emails are split between those encouraging us to 'get a spine' and put a stop to this immigration relocation, and those encouraging us to 'get a spine' and get rid of the protesters. And keep in mind there are legitimate concerns for public safety, for public health, for the significant cost burden this is placing on our already stretched police force and local resources to feed, clothe and house potentially hundreds of homeless, jobless families.

My concern, and my focus on the council, is on economic development. I would like to encourage job growth in Murrieta such that 65% of our residents didn't have to leave their families every morning to drive to OC, SD or LA for work. This negative media spotlight will have lasting repercussion on our economic development activities long after these outside agitators have moved on to the next media affair and these illegal immigrants have been processed and moved on.

I thank you for your involvement. We will hopefully continue to represent the diverse population of our community to the best of our ability and appreciate your comments and suggestion, even though I suspect a couple of the suggestions we have received will prove to be physically impossible.

I have attached a release from our Economic Development Director Bruce Coleman addressing some of these same issues:

As most of you are aware, the City of Murrieta Border Patrol Station has been at the center of immigration controversy for the past week. The images portrayed on the nightly news shows angry protesters blocking the way for illegal immigrants being brought for processing prior to being released. I would like to take a few minutes to explain that many of these people are immigration activists and are not representative of the citizens of Murrieta. The City of Murrieta is filled with extremely compassionate citizens who are very concerned for the welfare of others as evidenced by the countless non-profit groups dedicated to helping those less fortunate.

A few facts:
•Immigration is a federal, not local, issue. The President and Congress are at odds on an immigration policy and this impasse has resulted in a lack of enforcement of existing law, resulting in an extraordinarily large number of families trying to make it to our country.
•As American citizens, we understand how fortunate we are and have compassion for those that are fleeing troubled, violent communities to find a better life for their families.
•People have the right to peaceful protest, and both sides have done so over the past week.
•The demands created by protesters (on both sides of the issue) have taxed our police department for our city of over 107,000 residents.
•When the Mayor called for citizen action, he asked that citizens contact their legislative representatives to ask for better immigration policy, not to block the buses. OurPolice Department was protecting the buses while they waited for reinforcements. Border Patrol made the decision to leave.
•The City of Murrieta has successfully attracted international business and investment to our community and has worked hard to forge relationships with a wide variety of countries around the world and for the news media and activists to color us as intolerant to the plight of those less fortunate, is very difficult for us to accept.
•MURRIETA CONTINUES TO BE OPEN TO BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT FROM THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

I encourage you to contact me with any questions you may have about this highly emotional issue and I will provide you with additional information. As City staff we will continue to protect those under our care, whomever they may be, within the confines of the laws we are charged