COSTA MESA : City Won’t Appeal Dayworker Ruling

City officials have dropped plans to fight in court for a controversial clause in an ordinance that prohibited people from going to certain sites to solicit work.

The city last year identified three areas that draw the heaviest concentrations of dayworkers and added a clause to its anti-solicitation ordinance prohibiting people from being within 300 feet of those sites with the intent to solicit employment from people in cars.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued to stop enforcement of the provision, arguing that it was vague and violated freedoms of speech and assembly guaranteed under the First Amendment, and an Orange County Superior Court judge agreed.

The City Council in July had voted to appeal the decision. But new information presented by City Atty. Thomas Kathe convinced council members that an appeal would fail, Mayor Mary Hornbuckle said. She would not say what that new information was.

In addition, Hornbuckle said the council will look at other provisions in the ordinance, especially one that established a hiring hall for legal residents to find work.

“I think there is some sentiment for looking at the entire ordinance,” she said.

Council members will look at whether the city has been successful in prosecuting suspected offenders and whether the ordinance has alleviated the problem of dayworkers gathering in certain areas, especially Lions Park.

Hornbuckle said other cities, such as Encinitas, that adopted similar measures have modified them for a variety of reasons, including reducing the city’s liability. She said Costa Mesa might be held liable if an employer who hires someone from the city’s hiring hall is found by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to be employing an illegal immigrant.

“We have not had a case challenging that, but the possibility exists,” Hornbuckle said.