Thread: Vista approves hiring law on day laborers

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Thursday, June 29, 2006
Last modified Tuesday, June 27, 2006 11:04 PM PDT



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Vista approves hiring law on day laborers

By: CRAIG TENBROECK and PHIL IRELAND - Staff Writers

VISTA -- While congregating in and around City Hall on Tuesday, demonstrators on both sides of the national illegal immigration debate said that the Vista City Council's unanimous approval of an ordinance to regulate the hiring of day laborers could have broad implications.

The ordinance, which takes effect July 28, will require those who hire off-site day laborers to register with the city, display a certificate in their car windows, and present written terms of employment to workers. Critics have called it a transparent attempt to eliminate hiring sites for day laborers.

"You're putting Vista in the eye of the storm," resident Dick Eiden cautioned the council before the vote. "A big national storm."

But several opponents of illegal immigration asked the council to set an example for other cities and approve the ordinance.

"We need to take care of our own people, our own citizens," said Anthony Porrello of San Diego.

City leaders chafed at comments from some speakers that this was an issue of race. City Attorney Darold Pieper said the "whole thrust" of the ordinance was that it would protect workers from unscrupulous employers.

With activist groups on both sides announcing plans to demonstrate before and during the meeting, law enforcement had a large, visible presence around City Hall. A metal detector was used to scan the more than 100 people who filed into the council chambers for the vote.

Sheriff's Capt. Glenn Revell said more than 100 Sheriff's Department deputies and detectives from as far away as Alpine and Imperial Beach were positioned in the area. The department had expected 200 to 400 demonstrators, but at its peak, Tuesday's crowd only hit about 150, Revell said.

"We would rather have more resources than we need then need resources and not have them," Revell said.

When demonstrators started to disperse around 8 p.m., there had been no incidents, Revell said.

Anti-illegal immigration activists made their first appearance around 4 p.m., waving homemade signs and American flags around City Hall.

"This is where the action is today," said Loch Crane, a retired teacher from Ocean Beach who said he is part of the Minuteman Project.

Mike Spencer, a local anti-illegal immigration activist, said he wanted to send a message that "citizens everywhere are getting fed up with illegal immigration."

A half-mile away, a pro-immigration rally took shape in a parking lot on Escondido Boulevard just north of Santa Fe Avenue where day laborers gather most mornings looking for work. A peaceful crowd of about 40 people had gathered by 4:30 p.m. in a tight knot under the shade of a few trees lining Escondido Boulevard. The guitar players sang songs of protest in Spanish, as men and women milled about on the sidewalk and in the grass waving at passers-by holding signs that read "Vista, you're buying trouble" and "Humans are not illegal."

"On the 27th of June we're going to protest and march," sang Joaquin McWhinney, one of The People's Troubadours ---- a name Ramon "Chunky" Sanchez made up on the spot. "We're not bad people. This country needs us. We're here to work and support it."

In a quick survey, the majority of people came from outside of Vista. The number of white and brown faces were about equal.

The Rev. Margo McKenna of the Chalice Unitarian Universalist Church in Escondido said she identified with the day laborers.

"I'm here because I'm a child of German immigrants who came here illegally to get away from the (World War I)," she said. "If they didn't have a chance to farm in Montana, I wouldn't be here now."

Joe and Marsha LoMedico, owners of the Sons of Italy Pizzeria, said the use of the parking lot by the laborers could be disruptive.

"Yeah, they pee back behind the building here, they litter," Joe LoMedico said.

"They chase cars," Marsha LoMedico added, noting that the clientele of the shopping center that includes Vons, a nail salon and a fabric store attracts mostly women and children.

"They don't want to see that, and they don't want to come here," Marsha LoMedico said.

However, the couple said they own another pizzeria by Rancho Buena Vista High School and have the same problem ---- except it's high school kids loitering.

"Nobody ever talks about that," Joe LoMedico said.

A clerk at the Salvation Army said recent confrontations between anti-illegal immigration activists and the day laborers scare her more than the day laborers themselves.

At 5:30 p.m. the protesters walked north on Escondido Boulevard toward City Hall chanting slogans, singing songs and waving signs under the watchful eye of the sheriff's deputies. At City Hall, the two opposing sides were cordoned off onto two sections of sidewalk.

After the meeting, Claudia Smith, a migrants-rights activist, said she hoped the ordinance had "sufficient legal infirmities" and would never take effect.

David Blair-Loy, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego and Imperial Counties, said before the meeting that the ordinance may be unconstitutional and is being carefully scrutinized.

-- Contact staff writer Craig TenBroeck at 9760) 631-6621 or ctenbroeck@nctimes.com.

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