Here are some items the council will...

Here are some items the council will consider tonight:

JOB CENTER REHEARING

The council will consider a request by Councilwoman Katrina Foley

to rehear the March 15 decision to close the Job Center. The

city-supported center was founded in 1988 to give day laborers a

place to go while waiting for jobs, so they would stop hanging out in

city parks and on streets.

Councilman Gary Monahan last month proposed closing the Job

Center, saying it won’t fit in with plans to revitalize the Westside.

But some residents are worried the problem of loitering laborers will

return when the center is closed at the end of June.

Foley asked for the rehearing because she said that those who use

the center weren’t adequately notified before the meeting and that

the council made the decision despite insufficient information about

alternatives for workers once the center closes.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Foley isn’t likely to get the majority vote she needs for the

issue to be reheard. The three councilmen who voted to close the

center cited fiscal concerns about the cost of running the center --

nearly $103,000 in the 2004-05 fiscal year -- and overall improvement

on the city’s Westside, and they’ll probably stick to those guns.

But they may be asked to explain themselves by workers who use the

Job Center, who are expected to turn out in droves for the meeting.

WALNUT

STREET PARKING RESTRICTIONS

The council will take up a request to restrict parking to

residents only on Walnut Street between Orange and Westminster

avenues. Some households signed a petition requesting the

restrictions because parking can be a problem during some events at

nearby St. Joachim Catholic Church.

At a Feb. 22 City Council meeting, the council postponed a

decision and asked church officials and residents to work together to

solve the parking shortage.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The church has agreed to do several things to assuage parking

complaints, so residents submitted a new petition opposing parking

restrictions. Council members are likely to vote down the proposed

resident-only parking, since their initial goal was to get the two

sides to cooperate.

NEWBORN DROP-OFF SITES

To prevent unwanted babies from ending up in trash bins, the

Orange County Fire Authority is asking cities to request that county

supervisors designate fire stations as places where newborns can be

dropped off safely. In 2001 a state law became effective that allows

parents to surrender newborns at hospital emergency rooms without

fear of prosecution.

Los Angeles County already has designated fire stations as safe

drop-off sites, and area fire officials want to follow suit. The

council will decide whether to ask Orange County supervisors to

include Costa Mesa’s fire stations as drop-off sites.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The fire authority is encouraging all Orange County cities to join

the Safe Surrender program, and Newport Beach already has pledged its

support. The item is likely to get the council’s approval.

-- Compiled by Alicia Robinson