ORANGE : Temporary Funding OKd for Job Center
The Jobs Resources Center won a temporary reprieve this week as the City Council voted unanimously to fund the facility for the next six months.
Bowing to concerns of police and local businesses, the council agreed Tuesday to spend about $47,000 to keep the center running. But the council advised the center’s director, Carmen Saldana, to seek grants and private funding to pay for the center’s future operation.
Facing a $2.1-million budget deficit for the 1993-94 fiscal year, the council voted in June to close the center on McPherson Road, north of Chapman Avenue, next Wednesday. Officials said the closure would save the city about $60,000.
The council opened the center three years ago to keep dayworkers from congregating near businesses. It also passed an ordinance at the same time prohibiting loitering.
The center offers job training and language classes, but its primary function is to match dayworkers with potential employers.
Police Chief John R. Robertson told the council that if the center were closed, the workers would return to the streets, creating a time-consuming and expensive enforcement burden for his department.
“I don’t think we can afford to be pound-foolish and penny-wise,” Councilman Mike Spurgeon said, in voting to extend funding for the center.
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