The problem with electing single-issue candidates to public office is that most governing bodies are going to encounter far more than one issue during any official's term.

Like in Escondido, for instance, where the "we hate illegal immigrants" City Council slate is suddenly faced with other issues, like massive budget shortfalls.

While City Council members Marie Waldron, Sam Abed and Ed Gallo are fixated on immigration (illegal and otherwise), the city we elected them to run is $3 million in the red, and the city-owned California Center for the Arts, Escondido, announced that it's also continuing to bleed, albeit not as badly.

The response of the "we hate illegal immigrants" slate?

Well, the above three council members plus newly elected Dick Daniels have announced that they want to ban all overnight parking on city streets -- get rid of the illegals, don't you know.

Get rid of more of the city's money is more like it.

When Vista adopted a law regulating day laborers last year, the local chapter of the ACLU sued -- arguing in its lawsuit, in part, that comments by some of Vista's City Council members that the law was aimed at getting rid of illegal immigrants betrayed a disciminatory bias in violation of the Constitution's 14th Amendment. While Vista's response to that lawsuit is that the motivation of legislators is outside the purview of the courts, that only the actual wording of the law can be at issue, the Supreme Court held otherwise inArlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation (1977). Intent can indeed be a cause for declaring a law unconstitutionally discriminatory. Daniels, at least, has made comments to this newspaper's reporters that indicate the motive for the parking ban is to get around a judge's ruling knocking down the city's previous law that banned the rental of apartments or houses to illegal immigrants.

Given that the Supreme Court has ruled that motivation is grounds for a discrimination finding, Escondido's proposed parking ban is likely to end up in some group's cross hairs -- or in those of a resident whose car or truck gets cited, should this idiocy become law.

With a $3 million hole in this year's budget, you wouldn't think the City Council would be looking to give away even more money.

Actually, you wouldn't think they'd be wanting to waste their own time and energy on a ridiculous stunt like an overnight parking ban when the city is facing so many more urgent problems. The long-term future of the downtown hospital building remains unsettled, the business climate continues to struggle (and even Waldron, Abed and Gallo can't blame everything on illegal immigrants) and, as mentioned, there's that unexpected budget shortfall to deal with.

While Waldron has repeatedly made clear through her actions that she's more than willing to run Escondido into the ground in order to advance her own political career, perhaps two of the trio of Abed, Gallo and Daniels will come to their senses.

In the meantime, unless you're voting for the local water board, perhaps it's time to start avoiding candidates who bank on public anger over a single issue.

- North County Times columnist Jim Trageser lives in Escondido. Contact him at (760) 631-6628 or jtrageser@nctimes.com.