Calif. Councilwoman Rebuked Over Remarks About Jews

By JTA September 7, 2011

The remarks of a councilwoman in Santa Ana, Calif. which compared a Jewish businessman to Hitler, were publicly condemned by her colleagues.

Members of the Santa Ana city council on Tuesday voted 4-3 to condemn Claudia Alvarez’s comments at a during an Aug. 24 debate on a tax for downtown property owners in comments directed at Irving Chase, the son of Holocaust survivors who owns several blocks of downtown property. The vote stated that Alvarez had violated the city’s Code of Ethics and Conduct and also committed the council to holding a town hall meeting on race relations.

“Hey, so if Hitler rents you a place, he’s giving us a great deal, so who cares what he stands for?” she had said during last month’s meeting.

Organizations including the Anti-Defamation League called for Alvarez’s resignation after she offered what the ADL called a “half-hearted” apology to Chase and his son the following day.

Alvarez apologized publicly at Tuesday’s meeting, according to the Orange County Register. “To err is human and I am human and I erred. I was very passionate about an issue and yes I misspoke. By no means did I intent to insult anybody,” she begins.

“I do want to apologize for those comments. I understand that I hurt a lot of people,” Alvarez says. “This is not by any means a Jewish-Latino fight. Both communities have worked to stop racism and will continue to do so.”

The council did not remove Alvarez from her positions as Mayor Pro Tem or as chairman of the Orange County Water District board.

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