[ilbegone]

Here is Chavarria going after Fontana:

ACORN to speak at Fontana council meeting

Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
10/27/2009 05:19:57

FONTANA - ACORN is coming to the city.

Representatives from the community organizing group - which came under fire after videotape showed some of its workers allegedly helping an undercover duo set up brothels - will speak on racial profiling and human rights violations against illegal immigrants tonight at the City Council meeting.

Members of ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, will talk about a chapter opening in the city and its fight against racial injustice, said Bobbi Jo Chavarria, a 38-year-old resident who is leading the group's efforts here.

"There absolutely are challenges in this place," Chavarria said. "It has a history of race issues. If you are a certain color and drive a certain car, you'll be pulled over and asked where you're going."

The group also will protest the so-called 287g Program, which allows designated law enforcement officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions.

Councilman Frank Scialdone, the city's former police chief, dismissed the charge of racial profiling by law enforcement officers here.

"When all else fails, play the race card," Scialdone said. "Here's the deal. When I was chief, we developed a racial profiling policy. I wrote it myself. We provided training for it. The policy explicitly prohibits profiling people by race."

Chavarria said the meeting is an opportunity to educate the public about the organization.

"We just have to do the real work of empowering people to participate in their community," she said.

Scialdone doesn't mind having an ACORN chapter here, though he gave a caveat.

"If they want to start one in Fontana, God bless them," he said. "Hopefully they don't tell prostitutes how to open a brothel."

The council meets at 7 p.m. at 8353 Sierra Ave.