Job Center benefits entire city

Mike Dunn

I’ve lived in Costa Mesa for over forty years and I used the Job

Center for the first time about two weeks ago. I had to clean out a

trashed apartment on the Eastside.

All I can say is, “Phew!” Was I ever glad the Job Center was

there. I could never have done this work myself.

The process was simple. The folks at the center negotiated the

price, picked the guys, etc., which was helpful because I don’t speak

Spanish.

Nothing could have been easier. I share my little experience here

so others, perhaps intimidated by the prospect of hiring day labor,

will feel more comfortable using the Job Center. It was a piece of

cake.

As far as using private employee centers, I have one question for

you. Have you ever been to one? The guys I saw milling around scared

me.

Second, I take exception to one particular part of Paul Bunney’s

letter in the April 6 Readers Respond on the Forum page. It bothers

me that Bunney thinks it’s inappropriate for anyone other than

Westside residents to comment on a Westside issue.

This provincial attitude is unhelpful at worst and convenient at

best. I suspect it applies only to those who are in favor of keeping

the center. I’m betting that open arms await anyone from the dark and

distant Eastside, who happens to be against the Job Center.

Apparently it was OK for Westsiders to express their opinions on

the Target Center, the Home Depot Center, the IKEA store, or the Home

Ranch debate, but heaven forbid if a foreigner from way over yonder

in Mesa del Mar or College Park ring in on the Job Center.

We all contribute to Costa Mesa, we all live in Costa Mesa, we all

have a say in Costa Mesa. It’s simple. It’s not Westside vs. Eastside

vs. Mesa del Mar. It’s Costa Mesa.

If you live in Costa Mesa you have a right to voice your opinion

about our city, irrespective of your neighborhood or whether you are

for or against the Job Center or any other issue within the city.

I respect that the Job Center may seem to effect Bunney (assuming

for the moment he is a Westsider) more directly than say me of the

dreaded Mesa Verde neighborhood.

Still, I, resident of the great metropolis known as Costa Mesa

have the right to pipe up if I want to.

Lastly (not directed necessarily to Bunney), there are many

activities supported by the city of Costa Mesa that don’t otherwise

pay their own way.

The city, and rightfully so, supports many, many groups, and

events that would otherwise find it difficult to operate without city

subsidy.

This is one of the reasons we band together as a city. Without the

effort of the group none of us on our own could afford the same

protections gained by pooling our financial and volunteer efforts.

The after school program comes to mind.

So to say the $100,000-plus used to run the Job Center is draining

the city coffers seems without much merit to me. Should we close the

parks and any recreation programs that don’t carry their weight?

Would we close the senior center if they needed more money?

No providing these services is what government does. Whether it’s

meals on wheels or the Job Center, what difference does it make

economically in the scheme of the entire budget of the city? It’s

part of what the city does.

Certainly a discussion could be had about the priority of one city

service over another but that I reserve for another time.

* MIKE DUNN is a Costa Mesa resident.