Thread: MD - Labor center opponents call process unfair

http://www.examiner.com/a-519104~Labor_ ... nfair.html

Labor center opponents call process unfair

Dena Levitz, The Examiner
Read more by Dena Levitz
Jan 20, 2007 2:00 AM (1 day ago)

WASHINGTON - A number of community activists are expressing outrage over the way in which Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett picked the site for a new day labor center serving Gaithersburg. Leggett is holding a public forum on the project early next month, they said, but it’s coming after the decision-making process, which makes it pointless.

“He’s circumventing what he ran on, which is open government,” said Stephen Shreiman, director of the Maryland chapter of the Minutemen, which is against illegal immigration. “He closed the process and violated the sunshine laws.”

The site, announced Thursday, is close to the Shady Grove Metro as well as a stone’s throw away from the county’s Liquor Control Board building and the yard where public school buses are kept.

Brad Botwin, director of newly formed anti-immigration group Help Save Maryland, who also is against the location, said his bigger complaint is that Leggett left the public out of the choice. As such, he said, his group is looking for legal recourse.

“I can guarantee there will be protests on the lot,” said Botwin, whose group has begun referring to the new county executive as Take a Hike Ike. “This is the cart before the horse. You’re supposed to have public hearings before you make final decisions. He’s just throwing out the rules.”

Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield said that it’s important to consider the origin of the criticisms.

“For people against having a day labor center anywhere to complain about the process, that’s not their complaint,” he said, adding that there has been plenty of consultation. “[Leggett] has been meeting with a broad range of people, from religious groups to groups against it.”

The Feb. 8 public hearing set to occur at the county’s Parks and Planning Office will be an opportunity for anyone to “give their 2 cents” on the day labor center, Lacefield said. But he confirmed that the decision about building a center at the chosen location has been definitively made.

“We think we’ve found a good spot,” he said. “Are we going to change our minds about whether there will be a day labor center? No.”

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com

http://washingtontimes.com/metro/200701 ... -7620r.htm

County land eyed to set up Gaithersburg day-labor site
By Natasha Altamirano
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
January 19, 2007

Montgomery County Executive Isiah "Ike" Leggett yesterday proposed establishing the county's third day-labor center on an industrial area of county-owned land near the Gaithersburg city limits.

County officials said their goal is to open the center, located near the intersection of Shady Grove Road and Crabbs Branch Way, by mid-February.

Day-laborer advocates say Mr. Leggett's proposal is a step forward in solving a problem that has plagued the county for over a year, while critics say the proposal is an attempt to sidestep the public planning process.

The Montgomery County Planning Board has scheduled a Feb. 8 public hearing on the site selection at its Silver Spring office. The hearing is required when county officials decide to change the purpose for which they use public land.

However, the planning board serves in an advisory role. County spokesman Patrick Lacefield said the final decision is up to Mr. Leggett.

"We obviously welcome any feedback we get from the public hearing and the planning board," Mr. Lacefield said.

County resident Susan Payne, an opponent of publicly funded day-labor centers, said she questions the sincerity of such statements.

"County land does not belong to Ike Leggett," she said. "County land belongs to the citizens of Montgomery County."

The proposed day-labor center, which would operate out of a doublewide trailer, is about 2.5 miles away from the current site where laborers, mostly Hispanic immigrants, gather to seek work.

The Rev. David Rocha, pastor of a nearby United Methodist Church called Camino de Vida, called the county's proposal a victory for "jornaleros," the Spanish word for day laborers.

"We feel that we're finding a solution for the community as a whole," said Mr. Rocha, who serves breakfast to laborers where they congregate outside an abandoned building on North Frederick Avenue in Gaithersburg. "We're not in favor ... of having places for day laborers -- we want places in which we can empower them" to get better jobs.

The day-labor centers are part of Mr. Leggett's long-term plan to help workers establish stable careers in higher-paying jobs.

"No one wants to be a day laborer forever," Mr. Leggett said. "That's why it's critical to engage these folks and help them move from the informal economy into the formal economy using our already existing county job-training and development resources."

The county's other day-labor centers in Silver Spring and Wheaton, operated through the immigrant-advocacy group CASA of Maryland, provide some vocational training, health care and other services.

CASA spokeswoman Kim Propeack said operation details of the new center haven't been worked out. Mr. Lacefield said county officials plan to discuss those details with CASA.

The county estimates one-time setup costs of $45,000 for the center and annual facility costs of $24,000 for trailer rental and electricity. The County Council has approved $114,730 for operational costs.

Mr. Leggett put it in your front yard.

Dixie