Thread: Baldwin Park leaders consider Home Depot lot

Wrangling over building day-labor center persists
Baldwin Park leaders consider Home Depot lot
By Nisha Gutierrez, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Article Launched:04/07/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT

BALDWIN PARK - The city plans to meet with Home Depot within the next two weeks to discuss building a day-labor center in its parking lot.
Some Baldwin Park officials said they want a center built to protect residents from being solicited while shopping and to make sure laborers can seek employment from a safe area.

Councilwoman Marlen Garcia brought the day-laborer issue to the council's attention after some residents complained about day laborers urinating, sitting on cars, drinking, gambling and making offensive remarks to customers in the Home Depot parking lot.

Last month, the City Council voted unanimously to introduce a no-soliciting ordinance, which if approved, would ban solicitation in areas intended for vehicular use, landscaped parkways and areas developed for pedestrian travel.

On Tuesday, the council voted 3-2 to put their decision on hold and send the ordinance back to city staff.

Garcia said she was stunned councilmen David Olivas and Ricardo Pacheco changed their position on the ordinance.

"I was baffled because everyone on council supported it before, and now for some reason, they don't," Garcia said. "This is one of those issues where we're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't.

"Supposedly we'd be violating day laborers' rights if we pass the ordinance, but at the same time if we don't, our residents will continue to feel unsafe and uncomfortable."

Annabelle Gonzalves, spokeswoman for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said if the city approves the ordinance, her group will challenge it because the law muzzles people from exercising their First Amendment right to free speech and violates civil liberties of all residents.

The City Council is scheduled to meet with Home Depot April 17 and is expected to consider the ordinance again in May.

Ron DeFeo, spokesman for Home Depot, said the company does not operate or fund any day-labor centers but does allow cities to use portions of its property for the facilities.

"While we prefer to maintain our policy of no soliciting at our stores, we have made the concessions on a few instances in order to serve the community, but we do not operate them," DeFeo said.

Olivas said he hopes the city can build a day-labor center and said he changed his vote after realizing how far-reaching the law would be.

"I thought the ordinance was too broad - so much that it would include garage sales at private residences, it would affect people from the Salvation Army who stand in front of the stores and would keep people from having yard sales on their driveways," Olivas said.

He said he wants to meet with officials from Home Depot before reconsidering the ordinance.

Pacheco said an ordinance will not solve the problem and said a day-laborer center will give the laborers a chance to find work and support their families.

"We need to have a nice, reputable center that has accommodations like a restroom and trash cans maybe operated by a nonprofit who can work with the day laborers," Pacheco said. "There are many of these all over that have been successful and it's what we need to do, because it's the right thing and the human thing."

El Monte Mayor Ernie Gutierrez said the day-laborer center at the Home Depot in El Monte has been good for the community.

In 2002, El Monte leased property from the Home Depot on Lower Azusa Road to provide a pickup area with canopies, portable toilets, water fountains and benches.

"Our guys here have their own place, and they don't bother anyone," Gutierrez said. "They know not to go into the other stores to use the restroom or things like that, they have everything they need at the center."

El Monte police Detective Richard Luna said the day laborers pay $1 a week toward the purchase of toilet paper, napkins, water and to have the facility cleaned.

"They stay at the area and wait for people to come to them and they have a whole system of the way things are done," Luna said. "It's worked out pretty well."

Garcia said she hopes the meeting with Home Depot is successful.

"Who will fund the center and how much it will cost has always been the issue every time we talked with Home Depot before," Garcia said. "We have no city property large enough to accommodate a center, so it will probably have to be on their property and hopefully we can find a way to make it work."

Councilman Anthony Bejarano said the ordinance is not intended to single out day laborers but instead to keep areas where cars are free from people who may be doing any type of soliciting and to keep everyone out of harm's way.

"This is the most constitutional ordinance we'll get about this issue because it's so broad, and I don't think we should wait for Home Depot to take the lead on this issue," Bejarano said.

He added that if it needs to be amended that could be done at a later time.

James Park, owner of Hans Cosmetics, said his business began to suffer after his female customers began getting harassed by the day laborers and he wants something to be done soon.

"This isn't the wild, wild West," Park said. "We can't just start a business anywhere in a parking lot. This wouldn't be a solution, but I think it would be a step in the right direction."

Baldwin Park Mayor Manuel Lozano said the city will try to find a solution that works for everyone.

"All of our residents have a right to come and shop and not have solicitors come up the windows," Lozano said.



http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_5614647

wait.. MALDEF is against a day laborer building? ummmm ok they are attacking their supporters.... genius.

Councilwoman Marlen Garcia brought the day-laborer issue to the council's attention after some residents complained about day laborers urinating, sitting on cars, drinking, gambling and making offensive remarks to customers in the Home Depot parking lot.

This is what I have against day labors, they have no business in the parking lot of anyones business or in front of anyones business ,it is not fair to the business or the customers.
If we have day labors I don't think we need guest workers especially with all the day labors now accross this country!!

How funny reading this. My parents bought a new home in El Monte when I was 5, 1951. It was a great town to grow up in, but rapidly changing by the time I was getting married in 1965, I went back there to see the house I grew up in and the town and it is almost completely Hispanic, legal or illegal I don't know but what a change. Sure made me glad I left Calif. in 1980.