A much-debated resolution that would have declared Taneytown?s intolerance of illegal immigrants failed Monday night.
The City Council voted 3-2 to reject the measure, which had evoked strong passions throughout the state.
Councilman Angelo Zambetti suggested the debate over the measure had damaged the reputation of the town of 5,500 at the foot of the Catoctin Mountains.
“There are comments that have called us a ?bigot? and a ?racist? if you vote for this, followed by comments that say, ?You?re a bigot and a racist if you vote against it,?” he said. “I personally see no reason for the resolution.”
Councilman Paul Chamberlain Jr. said his “anti-sanctuary-city” resolution would have sent a message to illegals that they?re not welcome in Taneytown.
He and Councilman Carl Ebaugh voted for the resolution. Zambetti, Councilwoman Jacquelyn Boisvert and Councilman Henry Heine voted against it, saying Taneytown is not a sanctuary city, where officials limit actions against illegals.
“I do not fear these people,” Chamberlain said of those who enter the country illegally. “I detest their lawless attitudes ? Are bank robberies just unlicensed withdrawals? And drug dealers just unlicensed pharmacists?”
But some dismissed Chamberlain?s resolution as a cheap play for media attention.
“This is an abomination,” Wayne Cassell, a Carroll County resident, said before the vote. “To use this GOP bottom-dwelling issue against [illegals] is such a shame.
He quoted a plaque at the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
“Stand up for the home of the brave, the land of the free,” Cassell said.
