(AP) - The St. Louis-area town of Valley Park, led by its mayor, has been trying for years to rid itself of illegal immigrants, gaining national attention and dividing its own residents along the way.

But on Tuesday Mayor Jeffery Whitteaker lost his re-election bid, and his successor says it's time for the city to move in a different direction.

Mayor-elect Grant Young on Thursday said the town of 6,500 already has spent far too much money "on a court fight with no end in sight."

"I was no fan of the immigration bill," he said in an interview. "Valley Park has to become multiracial and multiethnic. They should be welcome here, not just the genteel whites who have lived here 100 years."

Young, who takes office April 21, said he will tell Valley Park's aldermen that the immigration ordinance amounts to racial profiling, sets no new legal ground, and has divided the city along racial lines.

"I'd like to propose we disengage from this long, drawn-out litigation," he said. "There might be an easier way to go about it. You could debate whether it's even an issue.

One approach, he said, would be passing a nonbinding resolution stating the city has an immigration problem that the federal government needs to address.

Another approach would be to use existing ordinances to resolve the problem.

Claims of overcrowding at a housing unit led the city to pass a housing ordinance focusing on illegal immigrants.

"If that's the case, cite them, and if they're deemed to be illegal, transfer them to immigration," Young said. "The municipal court could check on their legal status."

Young said he's a "big fan" of using existing ordinances and limiting the city's exposure to lawsuits. He said the city has paid more than $250,000 to defend its ordinances against illegal immigration in court. That's 10 percent of the city's budget.

"We're watching what the new mayor and Board of Aldermen will do," said John Ammann, director of Saint Louis University's Legal Clinic, who was involved in the legal challenge. "The new leadership will have an impact on which direction the city goes. We're anxious to see what happens."

In 2006, Whitteaker spearheaded the passage of ordinances that fined landlords and businesses for renting to and hiring illegal immigrants. The landlord law was later repealed.

Meanwhile, a federal judge in January ruled that the city can suspend permits of businesses that hire illegal immigrants. The American Civil Liberties Union has appealed the decision. In a nearly identical case, a federal judge in Pennsylvania forbade the city of Hazleton, Pa., from cracking down on illegal immigrants.

Stephanie Reynolds, who was elected to the Board of Alderman on Tuesday, has filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development alleging the city discriminated against her and her tenants.

Attorney Kris Kobach, who is chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, served as lead lawyer defending the city, did not return two phone messages Thursday seeking comment.

City Attorney Eric Martin couldn't say Thursday which direction the city might take under a new administration.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

APTV 04-10-08 1734CDT