Ontario County to take stand on driver's license order
An Ontario County committee agreed the county Board of Supervisors should take a stand on Gov. Eliot Spitzer's order that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.
Ontario County Clerk Jack Cooley briefed the county's Government Operations and Improved Methods Committee Tuesday on the order scheduled to take effect on Dec. 1.
Cooley and other county clerks in the region - including those in Wayne, Yates, and Monroe counties - object to the order. Cooley said last week: "If we don't hold to the standards we have now, your New York state driver's license won't be a good form of ID."
Spitzer's executive order does away with the need for Social Security numbers, the most common form of identification in the state, for people applying for driver's licenses. Spitzer, a Democrat, is reversing an executive order by his Republican predecessor, George Pataki, requiring the Social Security identification.
Supervisor Mary Luckern, D-town of Geneva, chairwoman of the committee, said a resolution opposing Spitzer's order will be drawn up and come before the Board of Supervisors at its meeting Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ontario County Court House.
"This is something that should go before the board for a final decision," said Luckern.
The committee is made of two Democrats, Luckern and Richmond Town Supervisor Randall Pawley; and four Republicans: Leslie Bamann of Victor, Bonnie Drake of Canadice, Lloyd Kinnear of Canandaigua and Dan Marshall of South Bristol. Lukern said Pawley and Drake were absent from the meeting, with the rest of the committee members present in unanimous agreement to move the resolution forward.
Wayne County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday calling for the governor to reconsider his order.
Mark James, executive director of the Finger Lakes office for the state Farm Bureau, said the Farm Bureau has not yet taken a stand on the issue. The state bureau will may eventually adopt a policy pertaining to the matter, he said, and will take its lead from decisions made by the state's county farm bureaus. James said he attended the Ontario County Farm Bureau meeting last week, and the matter was not addressed.
James said no matter what happens with the driver's license order, "the bottom line" is that farmers need a guest-worker program to ensure a stable workforce. "Congress has to act," said James.
"It's the ultimate solution," he added. He said he doesn't want to see the driver's license issue distract from that mission.
Julie Sherwood can be reached at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 263, or at jsherwood@mpnewspapers.com.