LAGUNA BEACH : Stricter Day-Worker Ordinance Debated

City leaders said a new law holding employers liable if they hire day laborers anywhere in Laguna Beach except at a designated hiring lot has been largely ineffective and that the city may consider a tougher ordinance.

It is unclear, however, if proponents of a stricter law could garner the necessary three votes for passage, since two City Council members refused to vote for even the current ordinance.

“There’s no question--it is not working,” said Councilman Wayne L. Peterson, who from the beginning favored a tougher proposal that would have held both employers and workers responsible when job solicitation occurred away from the hiring lot.

Peterson is a member of a task force formed to monitor the ordinance and explore other ways to confine day-laborer work solicitation to a specific location, a problem that has long troubled the city.

“I can’t speak for the committee, but I think there’s a lot of sentiment on the group now toward expanding the ordinance,” he said.

The law, which carries fines and penalties of up to $1,000 and/or six months in jail, has been in effect for about 10 weeks. Police Chief Neil J. Purcell Jr. said “a couple” would-be employers have been cited, but the workers have not been deterred.

“Frankly, it hasn’t helped that much,” Purcell said. “The day laborer leans against the sign and stands there. . . . It just doesn’t have a lot of effect on them.” Purcell said officers spend about two hours a day attempting to enforce the law.

The issue of how to redirect day workers to a designated hiring lot in the 1800 block of Laguna Canyon Road has been a divisive one for this city, which has taken a number of steps trying to solve the problem.

But Mayor Lida Lenney and Councilman Robert F. Gentry have opposed ordinances, with Lenney calling it improper to “fine and punish people who are trying to look for work.”

The task force has one more scheduled meeting and is then expected to return to the council with a report and a recommendation.