Job Center’s future unsure

Alicia Robinson

After 16 years of helping day laborers find employers who want them,

Costa Mesa’s Job Center could be closing down.

The city opened the Job Center in 1988 on Placentia Avenue near

17th Street to combat a problem with day laborers milling around

certain spots -- particularly Lions Park -- waiting for contractors

to come by with jobs. As a place where temporary workers can connect

with employers, some people think the center has been effective, but

others say the city shouldn’t be doing the work of an employment

agency.

“It’s a service that I don’t necessarily think we need to be

providing anymore,” said Councilman Gary Monahan, who requested a

discussion of the Job Center at tonight’s council meeting. “Times

have changed ... and with all the work that we’re doing on the

Westside. I think it may be time to move the Job Center out.”

In the 2004-05 fiscal year, the center cost the city $102,967 to

run. An average of 110 workers visit the Job Center each day, and

about 34 of them find jobs on any given day, according to city

statistics.

More than half of the employers who find workers there are Costa

Mesa-based, and 79% of the workers who use it say Costa Mesa is their

home.

Monahan will recommend closing the Job Center, and he may have

some support. Mayor Allan Mansoor has suggested closing the center or

limiting it to Costa Mesa residents, and he still supports those

ideas.

“There are many ways people can find a job, and I think it’s up to

the private sector to facilitate that,” he said Monday. “It’s not

something that I believe government should be involved in.”

But the Job Center has survived past attempts to limit its

services, and it has a number of supporters.

“I’d be extremely disappointed and I’m sure my neighbors would be

as well” if the center is closed, said Bill Turpit, a longtime Job

Center supporter who lives near Lions Park. “I think it’s going to

cause people to go out to visible places to look for work.”

The center is providing a service the community needs, and it’s

unclear how well the city’s anti-loitering ordinance will address the

issue if there’s no organized place for laborers to go, Councilwoman

Katrina Foley said.

“I think whatever decision the council decides to make, they need

to seriously consider the ramifications of the loitering problem that

could be created by the loss the Job Center,” she said.

The Job Center is operated by the parks and recreation department.

City recreation manager Jana Ransom said the center gets temporary

workers off the street, but some workers don’t use it because they

choose not to follow the rules it requires, such as providing

identification and providing a small, one-time user fee.

“I think if we had two or three of these around town it would be

more effective. I don’t think it’s a panacea,” she said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at alicia.robinson

@latimes.com.