City Council approves work solicitation law

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- The merits of bilingual signs were debated Monday as the

City Council determined the best way to inform people of a new law

prohibiting the solicitation of work on private property.

Council members seemed to agree on the intent of the new law, which

would give police a tool for cracking down on those who look for work

outside of privately owned businesses, but could not come to a consensus

on how to post it.

“Most of those people don’t even speak English, and they shouldn’t

even be here,” Councilman Chris Steel said.

The new law would allow police to arrest people looking for work on

private property where business owners have posted a ban against it.

Posting is voluntary, but once the signs are up police can arrest

violators.

Ultimately, council members voted 3 to 1 to allow the property owner

to decide if an additional sign in Spanish would be posted. Councilwoman

Libby Cowan dissented.

City officials said the law is aimed at loitering day workers -- most

of whom speak Spanish -- who hang out in front of convenience stores and

storage places looking for work.

City Atty. Jerry Scheer said he learned from previous experience with

laws such as this that judges and district attorneys are more likely to

prosecute violators when the notices are in Spanish also.

The notice would be “unreadable by the obvious people that it is

targeting,” Scheer said. “There may be prosecutorial problems with it.”

Audience members blasted the attempt to mandate Spanish signs, going

so far as to say it would be detrimental to businesses to advertise that

Spanish-speaking people patronize the store.

Resident Janice Davidson agreed with Steel, saying people in this

country should know English.

“If they don’t speak English, that’s their problem. You learn the

language of the country you are in,” she said.

John Wright was the only speaker who questioned the effectiveness of

the ordinance. The Costa Mesa man questioned why a business owner would

want to limit potential customers. The men who stand in front of a

convenience store looking for work also walk in and buy snacks and

drinks, he said.

Councilwoman Karen Robinson said while she did not agree with the

comments from the audience, she was concerned with mandating business

owners to post bilingual signs when participation is voluntary.

“My concern is that some won’t use the tool because they don’t want to

post in various languages,” Robinson said.

In the past, police were restricted from taking action because

enforcement would require a business owner to call the police, file

charges of trespassing and then follow through with prosecution --

including testifying, Assistant City Atty. Tom Woods said.

The new law “creates a more simple procedure,” Woods said.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .