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Drivers Without License Could Lose Their Car

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May 13, 2008 7:52 pm US/Mountain

Drivers Without License Could Lose Their Car

Reporting
Raj Chohan
DENVER (CBS4) ― A new ballot initiative would require police to impound cars when the drivers don't have a license. Critics say the measure targets illegal immigrants.

The Denver City Council approved the first reading Monday night, but their role in issue is really just ministerial. When a citizens' initiative gets the required 3,900 signatures, City Council can either adopt it as law, or rubber stamp it for the ballot. This one's heading for the ballot.

City Councilman Rick Garcia blasted the measure as mean spirited, targeting illegal immigrants.

"I think this initiative is calling out a certain class of people, which I believe is wrong and it's inappropriate," Garcia said.

Garcia and two other council members voted against the measure in violation of the city charter which says council has only two choices when faced with a valid citizen initiative. They can either pass it directly into law or let the voters decide.

Councilman Charlie Brown wondered aloud if it may be too easy for citizens to get a measure on the ballot.

"Thirty-nine hundred signatures, frankly, is a joke," Brown said. "So we do end up with a lot of these issues and they do put us in awkward positions."

Future Denver, the group behind the initiative, didn't immediately return calls from CBS4, but the language of the ballot initiative states, "Unlicensed drivers, including illegal aliens, are not eligible for auto insurance and pose a significant danger to the people of Denver … (they) must be prevented from doing so in every way possible."

"Illegal immigration was the second most prevalent complaint from my district," said Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz from District 2.

Faatz was the lone City Council voice who said the ballot initiative has some merit.

"There will be some legitimate complaints about this particular provision, but there are some attractive features as well," she said. "I don't want people thinking that every elected official thinks it's a total lost cause."

The car measure will get its second reading next week and will almost certainly be sent to the ballot.

The City Council is also working on a proposal to change the city charter so that citizen initiatives can bypass City Council and go straight to the ballot.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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