La Mirada and other communities where day...

La Mirada and other communities where day laborers congregate to look for work have had complaints from restaurants and businesses that the workers scare away

customers and from residents that they litter their property. Should cities establish a place where these workers can meet employers?

Norm Anderson

Vice chairman

La Mirada Day Laborer Task Force

I think that communities have a responsibility to establish safe gathering places for people seeking work. It’s a humanitarian issue. Men and women who are seeking work may have hungry families, and they have a right to seek work. As long as they have skills that people need, they should have an area that they can gather safely and where contractors can hire them in a lawful manner. I think each of us has a responsibility to our brothers and sisters. As I see it, because of the present economic situation in this country as well as the economic conditions in Mexico, a lot of people are looking for work. Rather than have them gather on street corners, which is a custom as I understand it in Mexico, I think it would provide a good service to both employees and employers that an appropriate gathering place be established. In the city of Brea the day laborers are taught English as second language. It’s called a day laborer site and it’s run by the city. I think it’s a very good model. I would hope that some place in the La Mirada area or the county could be established. To meet those needs is extremely important and extremely worthwhile. It’s very important that we look after one another.

Danny Rosas

Program coordinator

Harbor City Day laborer program

I’m in favor of it because a large percentage of people who congregate on corners are in the country legally. We need to realize that we have to treat the problem in a humane way. In our program, we tutor people in English as a second language and have a safe and clean environment where anyone can come to find a worker. We’ve been very successful, so successful that not only Hispanics come out but a whole ethnic rainbow comes to the site and uses it. If the center wasn’t here, they would all be on the streets. You provide a safe and clean environment, you have an orderly registration system, and you draw people away from what the merchants and businesses are complaining about. Day laborers standing on street corners are a problem that won’t go away, and the cities are going to have to come to grips with it. These corners have always existed, but because of the instability of the economy south of the border, the influx of people is expanding even more.

Norma Scott

Member

La Mirada Citizens Commission

I’m in favor of establishing a site but not the city by itself because our day laborer problem is with people who do not live in the city. The day laborers do not reside in the city of La Mirada, so I feel it should be in conjunction with the county and neighboring cities. These day laborers that we have in La Mirada live in the surrounding cities. I feel all these cities should meet with the county and have a joint venture to keep the men off the streets and from harassing the residents and give them a place to go. They’re hungry men seeking a way to put food on the table to feed their babies. I’d like to see it handled humanely and not chase them all over the place. It will take a while before employers know where to pick the day laborers up, but if the city ordinance makes it illegal to pick up day laborers, then they are going to go to the site and pick up these gentlemen. The day laborer site in Brea is working very well.

Dave Peters

La Mirada mayor

I do not favor a day worker center going into the city of La Mirada, and we don’t have enough residents in need of it. There is not justification to place one here. If there is evidence of a concentration within a given area, then you need to give it consideration. I think in the case of La Mirada, it would create a magnet to attract them here. I think there are other cities that would be far more likely to be the site for this kind of thing. If there are significant numbers of day laborers working or living in the community, the city should cooperate with other agencies to establish a site. I think cities should work with other agencies but I don’t think they should unilaterally fund these projects. We’re just like any other government agency. We’re strapped and our task force didn’t recommend that we should place one here. We need to work together as a state, federal and county units of government.

--Compiled by Kirsten Lee Swartz, Times community correspondent