Missouri Governor Matt Blunt (pictured above) has decided not to fire his chief of staff Ed Martin over what people are calling racist comments (which also led to a government staffer resigning).
Coalition of Hispanic organizations and individuals
Here’s a snippet from The Kansas City Star:
A coalition of Hispanic organizations and individuals held a news conference Monday at a state office building in downtown Kansas City. In a statement, Rita Valenciano, president of the Coalition of Hispanic Organizations, said it was outrageous for Martin to say that in a work force where there are “Mexican-looking people they are likely illegal.”
The comment occurred at an Aug. 17 meeting of the Missouri Housing Development Commission, which awards state tax credits to qualifying developers. At the meeting, Martin was speaking to a developer and his lawyer about a recent case in O’Fallon, where local officials suspect illegal labor was used on a development.
The developer’s lawyer said a computer program to check the legal status of subcontracted workers on his job site was not available at the time.
According to transcripts, an angry Martin shot back, “I’ll tell you what’s available, is every frigging developer can figure out who is illegal, and when he says — like he told them — there’s a bunch of Mexicans out there, I guess some of them are probably not legal.”
