Controversy Moves to Md.

Gaithersburg Officials Undeterred by Herndon Election Outcome

Jeff Talley of Sterling and other Minuteman Project members fought a day-laborer center in Herndon last year. (Tracy A. Woodward -- The Washington Post)

The electoral defeat of three Herndon politicians who supported a day-laborer center was perceived nationally as a warning to other elected officials. But in Gaithersburg, about 30 miles away, City Council members said they won't be deterred from opening their own facility.

Anti-illegal-immigration groups were emboldened by the outcome of Herndon's election. Some local activists said they saw Gaithersburg as a fertile battle ground to continue their fight against such centers, which seek to help immigrants -- some of whom are illegal -- find jobs.

"I don't respond to intimidation," City Council member Stanley J. Alster said. "We try to do the right thing. I try to do the right thing."

Yet even as politicians in Montgomery County promise to stand their ground, they have taken note of what happened in Herndon.

"I believe that people in the community are very concerned on both sides of the issue, and that's something the mayor and council of Gaithersburg need to discuss," Mayor Sidney A. Katz said.

On May 2, voters in Herndon unseated one-term Mayor Michael L. O'Reilly and two Town Council members who supported creating the day-laborer center. They were replaced by challengers who have proposed banning the use of taxpayer money for the facility. In addition, the conservative group Judicial Watch has sued Herndon over its decision to open a center.

"Hopefully, the Herndon example will ring a few bells in communities that seem to be a little harder of hearing," said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nonprofit group that wants to stop illegal immigration.

The head of the recently formed Maryland branch of the Minuteman Project said he has recruited about 100 members to patrol two other permanent day-laborer centers in Montgomery. The Minutemen spearheaded opposition in Herndon. The new Maryland chapter said it hopes to mobilize voters to unseat the County Council members who support the centers.

There is no election in Gaithersburg this year, but there are County Council and executive races. The County Council would have to approve funding for the new center.

"If there's anyone who supports this day-laborer center using taxpayers' money, we will oppose them," Stephen Schreiman, director of the Maryland Minutemen, said.

County Council members dismissed such threats. Montgomery tends to be a liberal county, they say. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1. And it's diverse: About 27 percent of its nearly 900,000 residents are foreign-born, according to the 2000 Census.

"I think they'll find their positions have no traction in Montgomery County," said County Council member Tom Perez (D-Silver Spring), who is considering a bid for state Attorney General.