MOORPARK : Council to Vote on Site for Laborers
The Moorpark City Council will decide Wednesday whether to establish a hiring site for day laborers on a vacant lot about a block from City Hall.
If the council approves the proposed location on the southwest corner of High Street and Moorpark Avenue, it will be the first officially sanctioned hiring site for day laborers in Ventura County.
About 30 laborers gather each morning in the parking lot of the Tipsy Fox convenience store at Spring Road and High Street.
City officials began investigating other locations last fall after the owner of the Tipsy Fox complained that the presence of the men frightened his customers.
The proposal for the men to move to the Moorpark Avenue location, about three blocks west of the Tipsy Fox, arose from a meeting last month of laborers and city officials, including Mayor Paul W. Lawrason Jr. and Councilman Bernardo M. Perez.
The site is owned by the Ventura County Transportation Commission and managed by the city, said Mary Lindley, assistant to the city manager. No plans have been made to develop the property, she said.
City officials are investigating the possibility of installing portable restrooms and a pay telephone at the site, she said.
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