By JEFF OVERLEY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

COSTA MESA – In 2005, elected officials voted to close Costa Mesa's job center, saying the move would discourage loitering by day laborers. Now, the same officials may vote to reopen Costa Mesa's job center, saying the move will – yep – discourage loitering by day laborers.

The about-face is related to interest in strengthening a local law that restricts soliciting work from sidewalks, storefronts and other conspicuous locales.

Courts have often ruled that strict limits on solicitation violate free speech unless a reasonable alternative – such as a job center – exists for finding work.

As it stands today, day laborers can openly seek work in Costa Mesa, though they face modest limits such as not distracting drivers.

"It does kind of hamstring us in terms of enforcement," said Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever, who is asking city staff to study arrangements like those in the cities of Orange and Laguna Beach, both of which have job centers and tighter rules on solicitation.

Bever, who voted three years ago to shut the center, said the closure has reduced solicitation but that residents remain riled about laborers congregating at convenience store and other venues.

"You hear it from neighbors and other people," Bever said. "They don't go into 7-Eleven any more on their way to work because they don't want to run the gauntlet."

Others say the job center's closure actually increased solicitation. The center "was well known all throughout Southern California," Rufio Garay-Pablo, a day laborer soliciting near the old job center, said in a November story about the center's demise.

"It was the most organized and best run. … Today, it's a real mess out here. You have people all up and down the street, and the businesses and the residents aren't happy."

Oscar Becerra Mejia, co-owner of a 17th Street marine canvas shop, said in November that the move "wasn't smart at all, because … now you see them (laborers) all over the place."

Costa Mesa police Sgt. Bryan Glass said authorities don't keep track of complaints about solicitation, but that such complaints do trickle in.

He echoed Bever's observation about the limits of Costa Mesa's current restrictions. "It's not against the law to solicit," Glass said.

Under Bever's vision, the revived job center would require employment hunters to provide proof of authorization to work in the country, a provision not mandated at the old job center.

Belinda Escobosa Helzer, staff attorney at the Orange County office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the paperwork requirement could derail efforts to curb solicitation.

"To seek work on the (public) right of way, no documentation is needed," she said. "I don't think that requiring documentation shows that there is a genuine interest in resolving the situation."

Limits on solicitation might be similar to those in Orange. The city banned solicitation on streets without parking lanes and required businesses to acquire permits if they want to allow laborers to congregate on their property.

Since the law took effect earlier this year, solicitation has dropped up to 80 percent in areas of Orange frequented by laborers, officials reported last month.

Contact the writer: 714-445-6683 or joverley@ocregister.com



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