Letter to the Editor, Sierra Vista Herald
Sent September 29, 2004 - Not published in paper
Re: American Border Patrol told to move from neighborhood
    Sierra Vista Herald, September 28

Editor,

Sierra Vista (Arizona) Herald

It is a reflection of the overall tranquility of the place when a dispute over a home office makes above-the-fold headlines of the town's newspaper.

To set the record straight, American Border Patrol (ABP) rents commercial office space in the Sierra Vista area for its operations. With the sole exception of my executive assistant, all employees work there. ABP also rents vacant land near the border for its unmanned aerial vehicle operations.

Because I work odd hours on the computer, I, as do so many others, like to work out of my home. And, as with so many others, I have someone to assist me during the day. My home office was inspected by the Cochise County Planning Department and found to be in compliance with zoning regulations.

The dispute with the Pueblo del Sol homeowners association grew out of a misunderstanding. Although I am not a homeowner and not part of the association, I was led to understand that many homes in the development are used in a similar manner. I now believe that ABP was singled out because of the nature of its work. But I am puzzled as to why a peaceful, law abiding effort to shed light on the border problem, that is helping the community solve a serious problem, would elicit such a negative response.

Finally, ABP was not told to move. ABP decided not to challenge the demand that absolutely no "work" be performed at the premises (meaning my assistant must not work there). ABP merely informed the judge that I personally would be moving in the near future. This had nothing to do with the dispute with PDS, unless it is now illegal for anyone to work on a personal computer in a PDS home.

Glenn Spencer
President
American Border Patrol

PS: You might have mentioned that the shooting incident involved warning shots, the day after a major burglary on my premises ­ the third in less than a year.

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