Wimp Wednesday goes to…Governor Heineman.

From the way Governor Heineman treats Fremont you’d think it was a petri dish not his wife’s hometown.  With the Fremont City Council voting to suspend implementation of the infamous immigration ordinance, the governor’s experiment of using the city as a test case for immigration legislation at the state level has failed.

Now that MALDEF and the ACLU have filed lawsuits, Fremont’s City Council voted to suspend the law (temporarily or indefinitely).  And all Heineman can say is that he understands Fremont’s “frustration and anger.” 

While Heineman’s words are a nice gesture, it’s little comfort to residents who are staring down the barrel of millions of dollars in legal fees.  And, last time we checked, words don’t pay legal bills.

This is a major political blow and set back for Heineman and conservative State Senator Charlie Janssen.  They both want to see the Arizona law introduced here and both have said they will do it, but with their “trial run” in Fremont hitting such set backs, what will be their next move?

We hope voters in Fremont remember that Dave Heineman says he understands them while simultaneously treating them like lab rats when they go to the polls in November.  Our state and our towns deserve better and bolder leadership.