Friday, May 09, 2008

Does Bever Want The Job Center Back?


DAY LABORER FORUM
The Daily Pilot this morning brings us an article by Alan Blank that discusses a forum in which Costa Mesa Police Chief Chris Shawkey participated that apparently addressed the subject of day laborers. The article, HERE, doesn't tell us who the other participants in the forum were, but quotes Shawkey and Ma
yor Eric Bever extensively - Bever and Wendy Leece attended the forum.

BOGUS PHOTO
According to Blank, Shawkey apparently told a story about an email he recently received which complained about loitering day laborers and used a bogus photograph - one taken years ago - to illustrate it's point. Shawkey is quoted as saying, "People are out there trying to generate issues that aren't even there."

FABRICATED ISSUES NOT NEW
Gee, no kidding, Chief! I've been saying that for years. There is at least one "activist" (that word just seems too benign when describing this guy) in our town who has a long and dark history of fabricating issues to
inflame residents against our Latino population. "Marauding" soccer players at Paularino Park comes to mind. Although I don't know this reference by Shawkey was about him, I sure wouldn't be surprised.

CAUGHT RED-HANDED

Further bolstering that
thought is his blog entry, HERE, published at the crack of dawn this morning which leaps to solicit current photos of loitering day workers as specific locations around town. He was in such a hurry to pound out this entry and use "Return to Reason" as an epithet that he mis-identified the author of the Daily Pilot article as his father. Methinks thou doest protest too much... Beware of skulking "improvers" with cameras as you stop at your local 7-11 lest you be recorded for posterity as a "loitering day worker"!

LACK OF JOB CENTER HURTS ENFORCEMENT?

The Daily Pilot article, as you will read, also carries an interesting quote attributed to Eric Bever. W
hen addressing Costa Mesa's approach to managing day laborers he is quoted as saying, "Our strategy is lacking some regards. Closing our job center detracted from our ability to enforce," If that quote is accurate, Bever is acknowledging what I've said since the closure of the Job Center was first proposed - that it provides an effective method to manage and control the day laborers in our city. It solved a problem back when it was opened in the late 1980s and became a model program other cities followed, including our neighbors in Laguna Beach.

BEVER WANTS A JOB CENTER?
So, Mayor Bever, are you REALLY saying that we should open the Job Center again? That will certainly make for an interesting plank in your re-election campaign platform.

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6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting. As a fierce OPPONENT of the job center, I would support its reopening if proof of eligibility to work was required and verified, as well as mandatory registration of employers for tax and payroll purposes.

Implementing the above verification and registration requirements would be costly, and would have to be covered by fees charged to employees and/or employers.

Municipal endorsement of illegal employment practices is a non-starter.

Let's be HONEST about this issue - the job center as operated previously was essentially a criminal enterprise. It facilitated employers circumventing the law, and provided illegal immigrants with illicit employment.

That is a FACT, and I challenge anyone to show otherwise.

5/09/2008 11:02:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i love the fact millard finally used "(stock generic photo)" on his blog after being called out numerous times for using fake exploitive photos on his blog. that means he's seen & heard me & he can expect to see & hear me more. Maybe now he will start using facts instead of dimwitted comments & accusations about Costa Mesa. There will soon be fliers distributed throughout CM exposing this man for what he is. Stay tuned!

5/09/2008 11:10:00 AM  
Blogger The Pot Stirrer said...

rob, you and I disagree on the subject of the Job Center. For almost two decades it served the community well - and, accompanied by the non-solicitation ordinance implemented simultaneously - resolve the issue of loitering day workers. It was costing the city around $100,000 per year at the end. That's money well spent in my view. Before you get a head of steam up, be advised that there will be significant delays publishing comments over the weekend... I'll be otherwise pre-occupied.

cmtruth, keep in mind that the guy in question is a litigious sort, willing to bully you with threats of lawsuits.

5/09/2008 11:22:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Geoff,
I know that we disagree, and I am disappointed that you have no response to the illegality issue.

You CANNOT have a City facilitating illegal employment practices, period.

This is a real issue, and allowing political correctness or social bias to cloud your judgment is just wrong.

I am amazed that, with everything else the City has on its plate that needs financing, you think spending $100,000 on a job center that facilitated illegal employment practices is a good idea. I can think of a dozen other priorities off-hand.

I have no problem with a job center that is self-supporting.
Bring it back, but make eligibility verification mandatory. If people show false documents, they get arrested.

As for the head of steam - you know me well! While we do disagree, the best we can do is effectively advocate our different positions.

I hope you have a great weekend.

5/09/2008 01:42:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe Costa Mesa Police Chief Chris Shawkey could run for city council.

5/11/2008 03:35:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rob: The "Job Center" was not a criminal enterprise, it was a gathering place for persons seeking work. It is Federal law that requires "employers" to verify the legal status of persons they employ. The Center did verify Costa Mesa residency.
If any illegal stuff went on, it was by unscrupulous employers who picked up workers, didn't bother to verify their status and then didn't pay them for their work, figuring if they were illegal, they wouldn't say anything about it.
The Center was designed to keep people out of Lion's Park and other place where Day Workers congregated. It worked.
The "improvers" may have figured out that if they wanted to create fear in the community concerning Latinos, it wouldn't work unless they were once again seen all over town and not just at the job center. This also seems to have worked.
To qoute former President Franklin Roosevelt, "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself".
Rob what are you afraid of?

5/13/2008 06:10:00 PM  

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