Reply #33: Gov. Schwarzenegger Signals He'd Welcome Minutemen on California Border

[chlamor]

Governor signals he'd welcome Minutemen on California border

James Sterngold, Mark Martin, Chronicle Staff Writers

Saturday, April 30, 2005
 
Los Angeles -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger responded to harsh criticism about his support for armed volunteers who are patrolling the Arizona border with Mexico by praising the effort further Friday -- and an aide said they are welcome to operate in California.

Reaction to the governor's support of the Minuteman Project ranged Friday from a state assemblyman who suggested the encouragement was "dangerous'' and "increases the likelihood of people getting hurt,'' to applause from an activist who said Schwarzenegger's comments were likely to boost his effort to bring citizen border patrols to California.

The governor had called the news conference in Los Angeles to introduce his new education secretary, Alan Bersin, a hard-charging administrator from San Diego, where he had been the superintendent of schools. Bersin expressed a desire to work with California teachers but also promised to fight if they resist the governor's plans to reward successful teachers in the effort to improve school performance.

But any attempt to focus attention on Schwarzenegger's education agenda was short-lived, as the questions quickly turned to the border issue, always a hot-button political topic in California.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/04/30/MNGONCI5FL1.DTL