Marie Waldron and her cronies on the Escondido City Council should quit beating around the bush, quit pussy-footing around and get down to what it is they're really aiming to do: Outlaw poor people and the middle class from the city.

Oh, sure, they dress up their war on the poor and working families as a war against illegal immigration, but that's no more than window dressing to try to divide whites from Latinos. It's a diversion to keep the rest of us from uniting at the polling place and turning these "leaders" out of office next election.

Not that I'm against ending poverty in our community -- I'd just like to see it done by methods other than driving the poor into other communities.

And I wish Waldron's definition of "the poor" didn't take in so many middle-class families.

Waldron's latest hare-brained scheme is to ban overnight parking on all Escondido streets. She and fellow council member Dick Daniels claim this will force all the illegal immigrants (read "Mexicans"), who supposedly live 57 to an apartment, to move out of town -- while withstanding a court challenge, since it doesn't specifically target illegal immigrants the way the recently revoked rental ban did.

Want to know who would really be affected by the parking ban?

Well, me, for starters.

But an awful lot of you, as well.

For all her talk of banishing illegal immigrants, Waldron's arguments simply won't hold water. Think about it for a second: If you can only afford to share a room with three other men, are you really parking your car on the street at night? Isn't it far more likely you're walking, riding a bike or taking the bus?

I live in Old Escondido, in a triplex built either during or right after World War II -- with a garage so narrow that only a Nash Metropolitan or Cooper Mini could possibly have fit in it back then. And I've got the missing passenger side mirror on my Taurus to prove it.

Other houses in Old Escondido, many of which date back to the 19th century, have no garage at all. Some don't even have a driveway, seeing as they were built in the age of the horse.

And how many families throughout Escondido have teenagers who drive?

Fact is, with housing being so expensive in Southern California, our kids live at home longer than in previous generations. College-age adults need cars to get around, and if Mom and Dad have only a two-car garage, where are those extra cars supposed to go?

Look, the only reason Waldron and Daniels can wage war on the poor and middle class is because they count on the poor not voting.

But there's this fact: In Escondido, we poor and working poor and the increasing number of middle-class families who find themselves in the council majority's cross hairs outnumber the upper-crust types Waldron and her allies are catering to.

If we find ourselves banned from the city, it will be our own fault.

If we register and vote, we can have our voices heard.

But only if we register and then vote.

Do you live in Escondido? Do you drive a car?

Might want to start paying attention to what the City Council is up to.

Contact columnist Jim Trageser at (760) 631-6628 or jtrageser@nctimes.com.