Posted on 11/21/2007 7:47:24 AM PST by LNewman
... Nearly two years after the center closed, dozens of men in blue jeans and sweatshirts line the sidewalks near the old job center site on any given day. Instead of taking numbers and waiting for a day's work, they mass at storefronts, on lawns and at nearby businesses, such as 7-Eleven and U-Haul...
The job center "was well known all throughout Southern California," said Rufio Garay-Pablo, ... "It was the most organized and best run. … Today, it's a real mess out here. You have people all up and down the street, and the businesses and the residents aren't happy." ...
Soliciting work is constitutionally protected speech, with only modest limits permitted. Instead of leaving when the job center closed, laborers dispersed, said Oscar Becerra Mejia, co-owner of a 17th Street marine canvas shop. "It wasn't smart at all, because … now you see them all over the place," Becerra Mejia said...
The city saves more than $100,000 each year with the center closed, and a private employment agency nearby offers a similar service. "Why should the taxpayers pay for a job center when a privately run employment agency is already meeting the need?" Bever asked.
But laborer Alfredo Ortiz, 37, said the center isn't popular because its service isn't free and because it requires workers to prove they're authorized to work in the country – a requirement the job center didn't have ...
Laborers say that short-term gigs painting homes, laying tile or delivering phone books are harder to come by now, and that the job center's absence has stirred up competition that didn't exist before. Men line up six or seven deep when pickup trucks stop at a curb, and observers say that skirmishes often erupt ...
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
The city, ANY city, does not need to be in the employment development business. And come to think of it, these "workers" could go to the local unemployment office for free IF they were eligible to work in this country which, of course, they are not.
And for your polling pleasure the following question is posed on the web site:
Was closing the job center the right move?
Yes, it wasn't a responsibility of taxpayers (currently 69%)
No, workers have moved to public sidewalks. (currently 31%)
Total Votes: 45
FREEP THIS POLL ***PING!*** FRmail me if you want to be added or removed from the Fearless Poll-Freeping Freepers Ping list. And be sure to ping me to any polls that need Freepin', if I miss them. (looks like a medium volume list) (gordongekko909, founder of the pinglist, stays on the list until his ghost signs up for the list)
If I lived in the area, I wouldn’t especially want gangs of illegal aliens all over my lawn. I wonder why the poll doesn’t ask about that, as well as on the “public sidewalks.”
When the job center was open it didn't deter illegals from the other places they mentioned. And the largest gathering prior to the center's opening was in the area's small local park ... directly across from the police substation. When the city was attempting to close the job center, there were threats that they would just go back to taking over the park (more "protected free speech"?).
You see these gatherings of “day laborers” in many places.
Why doesn’t the INS round the illegals on the spot?
That way they could be sent straight back to their nation of origin and the rest of us will be spared from the eyesore.
ping
It is absolutely a liability for city taxpayers. Although during the time the job center was open the city claimed it was the employer’s responsibility to determine a day laborer’s eligibility to work in the U.S. and that labor laws pertaining to hiring and eligibility were posted at the center for the prospective employer’s review. How many times do you think that happened? Especially since an employee there told a local citizen that they accepted any ID as long as it wasn’t written in crayon.
“But laborer Alfredo Ortiz, 37, said the center isn’t popular because its service isn’t free and because it requires workers to prove they’re authorized to work in the country...”
That pretty well sums up the problem.
“But laborer Alfredo Ortiz, 37, said the center isn’t popular because its service isn’t free and because it requires workers to prove they’re authorized to work in the country – a requirement the job center didn’t have “
Well, that is the idea!
Was closing the job center the right move?
Yes, it wasn’t a responsibility of taxpayers - 71%
No, workers have moved to public sidewalks - 29%
Total Votes: 156
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