Law OKd to Ban Laborers From Approaching Cars to Solicit Work

Malibu’s City Council has amended an ordinance regarding work solicitation, banning day laborers from soliciting employment from motorists.

A city law already prohibits employers from pulling over in their vehicles and hiring workers. The council’s action Monday night expanded that ban to the workers, who now can be fined for approaching cars for work. The amended law also requires commercial property owners to set aside a space for work solicitation in their parking lots if they wish to regulate it on their property.

The law has drawn criticism from labor leaders who say it infringes on free speech and from laborers who call the ordinance unfair and impractical.

The council took action after local sheriff’s officials reported that workers continue to congregate on corners, despite a city-sanctioned labor exchange set up four years ago.

Also on Monday, the council approved the hiring of Harold Peacock as the new city manager. Peacock, the former city manager of Rolling Hills Estates and Saratoga, Calif., was hired after a four-month search to replace David Carmany, who resigned at the request of the council in August after disagreements over control of city operations.

Mayor John Harlow said Peacock’s nearly 30 years in city government brings much-needed experience to the relatively new municipality. Since its incorporation in 1991, Malibu has suffered five major disasters that have depleted city coffers.

“We need a mechanic for this city, someone to tighten up the operation and get the city more structured,” Harlow said. “We’ve been out there passing a lot of esoteric environmental ordinances, and in the meantime, the basic running of the city has been neglected.”

Peacock begins his tenure on March 24.