Inner eastside location eyed for day labor site

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Story Published: Dec 13, 2007 at 8:23 PM PST

Story Updated: Dec 13, 2007 at 8:29 PM PST
By Bob Heye and KATU Web Staff

PORTLAND, Ore. - One site is now getting close attention as a possible location for Portland's first city sanctioned day labor hiring center.

The site is at the corner of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Northeast Davis Street. Right now, it is a storage space for new cars, but the mayor's office says the lot appears to be the perfect place for setting up a day labor site.

Mayor Tom Potter has been pushing to find a site, and open it, by early 2008.

Seven sites are under consideration, but this particular site gets high marks because it is already close to one unsanctioned hiring site near the Oregon Convention Center.

The property could also be easy for the city to obtain because it is owned by the Portland Development Commission.

However, the area is a sketchy one - marked by graffiti and discarded clothing.

Shelley Heidegger, who works at a business just across Davis Street, said she is especially concerned that whoever runs the hiring site makes sure it does not attract after-hours crime.

"I'm not totally against it," she said. "But I would just really like to make sure it works out - make sure they don't have to close it before it even gets started."

The mayor's office also has a front runner group to operate the center, a Portland rights group called Voz, which is Spanish for 'voice.'

The group has been involved in the site selection process and the mayor's office says their proposal for running the hiring site should address the concerns of local businesses.

http://www.katu.com/news/12494896.html