EDITORIAL: Job site serves Laguna

The City Council’s decision June 3 to move forward with purchasing the 17,000-square-foot parcel used for a day labor site from Caltrans has resulted in the predictable rash of criticism, mostly from outside the city.

If all goes according to plan, the city of Laguna Beach will soon be the proud owner of this dusty strip that Caltrans considered “surplus” and was used as a right-of-way, presumably for some future need — perhaps road widening — that never materialized.

The $18,000 purchase price is truly a deal that city officials could not pass up, despite those who argued the city shouldn’t be “wasting” taxpayers’ money on the site at that price, but instead should pay $1 million for it, the price Caltrans had originally hoped it would fetch.

Huh?

The city has found an excellent use for this unused patch in turning it into a gathering spot for day laborers who otherwise would be sitting and standing around on city street corners, chasing after potential employers (and others), as they were doing for years until folks in North Laguna rallied around in the early 1990s and lobbied for a designated site.

Over the years, the day labor hiring site has developed into a well-organized place, a haven of sorts, providing permanent employment for those who operate it and a safe place for those seeking temporary work, and those offering it, to find each other.

The people there are respectful, courteous and calm.

The day labor site is not just for migrants who cross the border in search of a better life.

It’s for anyone who wants to offer their services on a one-on-one basis for day work. This form of “underground” employment has proven to be lucrative for workers and attractive for employers, such as homeowners, who don’t want permanent employees.

Ironically, bringing this hidden form of employment out in the open, as the day labor site has done, has attracted vocal critics of the practice, and they have their points — taxes may not be paid, workers may be taken advantage of — but it won’t stop the practice.

In fact, the labor site protects both the workers and the employers by requiring upfront pay negotiations and, importantly, writing down names of both parties so problems can be resolved and people held accountable.

The fact that the labor center operators don’t require documentation that workers are in the country legally gives fits to critics of the labor center, but it also makes the center more attractive to those seeking work.

That’s important, because the real purpose of the center is not to serve as an employment agency, but to get these laborers off the streets and manage a process that would otherwise be troublesome.

So it truly serves the citizens of Laguna Beach.