EDITORIAL

We’ve said it before and we’ll say again: The Job Center does what

Costa Mesa officials intended it to do when it opened Oct. 4, 1988.

Some contend that it does nothing more than cost the city $87,000

while attracting illegal immigrants.

But these critics have a short memory. The Job Center was created in

response to the influx of day workers who were loitering on city streets

and in parks, not the other way around.

What the center at Placentia Avenue and 17th Street actually does, for

the money, is create an employment hub where dayworkers can gather while

awaiting a day’s work. Before the hiring hall’s creation, workers could

be found lining up in the streets and crowding Lions Park -- much to the

chagrin of the city’s residents.

The City Council majority made the right decision Monday in keeping

the Job Center open to both city residents and nonresidents. The council

-- with the exception of Councilman Chris Steel, who instead prefers to

cast the workers who use the center as scapegoats to the city’s problems

-- also raised a one-time registration fee from $5 to $10 for residents and $15 for nonresidents.

Steel based his 2000 campaign on eliminating the Job Center and

continues to challenge its existence. But he and those who support him

make false arguments. They argue that the center is a magnet for illegal

immigrants. But they should know better.

Migrant workers, legal or illegal, have been fixtures on the Westside

long before the Job Center existed.

That’s not to say the Job Center couldn’t be run better. It could and

while we back the council’s decision Monday and wish the Job Center

continued success, we also encourage the city to do everything it can to

appease valid complaints about the site and the city’s operations of it.

Unfortunately, we’re sure we haven’t heard the last of these divisive

and sometimes mean-spirited criticisms of those who use the center,

criticisms, which will become especially heated as we near the November

City Council election.

Still, we urge those who oppose the center to come up with positive

solutions and creative ideas to address the day worker issue, and avoid

what amounts to smears on the hard-working men who use the facility.