ORANGE : City Reconsidering Plan to Close Center
City officials are reconsidering a decision to close the Jobs Resource Center on Sept. 1.
The City Council voted last month to cease operating the center, located on McPherson Avenue north of Chapman Avenue, in an effort to reduce the city’s $2.5-million budget deficit for fiscal year 1993-94. City officials estimate that closing the center would save the city $60,000 a year.
But Mayor Gene Beyer said he has received calls from several residents who said they fear an increase in day laborers soliciting work along Orange’s main roads should the center close. “They were concerned if people didn’t have a place to congregate and look for work, they would be on the street in front of businesses,” Beyer said.
Among those urging that the center be allowed to remain open is Police Chief John R. Robertson.
“They are making budget cuts, and they have to come from somewhere,” Robertson said. “But it’s important that we keep the resource center open. . . . Closing the center at this time would be a significant step backwards.”
The city opened the hiring hall in April, 1990. Carmen Saldana, supervisor of the Jobs Resource Center, estimates that 120 people a day use the facility.
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