08/01/2007
Residents concerned about day laborers
By: Layla Wilder

Representatives from five Centreville communities met with Sully District Supervisor Michael Frey and county staff July 26 to discuss their concerns about day laborers at the Centreville Regional Library.
A group of about 30 Hispanic men have been hanging out daily in front of, or near, the library for months, drawing complaints about catcalls, loitering, and an unsightly lawn.


Vehicles stopping to pick up the men in the mornings and drop them off in the evenings are creating a traffic hazard, residents of the area say.

Members of five communities near the library requested the meeting to discuss ways to exclude the day laborers from the area.

Frey, and Lt. John Piper, assistant commander at the Sully District Police Station, explained that, unless the men do something illegal, they cannot be ordered to leave the library grounds since it is public property.

Also, police officers do not have the authority to question people who are just standing around as to their immigration status, Piper said.

"We walk the fine line of upholding people's rights and making neighborhoods safe," Piper said.

Day laborers have reportedly been loitering in front of the library on St. Germain Drive and across the street at the Centrewood Plaza shopping center.

Bill Lieedtke, a nearby resident, said at the meeting that some women in his community will not walk to the library alone anymore. He also said parents are not letting their children frequent the library alone.

Cassie Triplet, senior property manager of the Centrewood Plaza shopping center, said it has been difficult for her to deal with complaints about the Hispanic men frequenting the center. Security guards do not keep them away, she said, and some of them are customers.

It's "very challenging to say who is loitering and who is not," Triplet said.

According to Frey, complaints about the situation have been increasing over the past two years.

Brian Worthy, a Fairfax County spokesman, said the county's health department has received reports about trash and public urination at the library.

Lieedtke suggested that Sully District construct a day laborer center as was done by the town of Herndon, but Frey said he does not think the day laborer problem in Centreville is big enough to consider a center yet.

"No one in Sully would support a zoning case for a day laborer site anyway," Frey said after the meeting.

Frey said the county's Facilities Management Department is working to improve the lawn at the library.

He also promised to work with county staff to educate Centreville's Hispanic community about the negative perception others have of them.

David Ellis, neighborhood services coordinator for the county's Department of Systems Management for Human Services, said at the meeting that education goes a long way toward improving problems related to day laborers.

"They just don't know how the public perceives them," Ellis said.

Piper said he will work with residents and shop owners to stop any illegal behavior and the traffic stops around the library.

Deputy County Executive Rob Stalzer, who is leading the county's newly created zoning strike force, was at the meeting to explain how the county hopes to address problems related to immigration by cracking down on overcrowded houses.

Out of the approximately 160 complaints the strike team has received to date, about 10 originated in Sully, according to Stalzer.

Stalzer said that, if overcrowding is not addressed now in Sully, problems there will worsen.

"This is a problem that has to be addressed from all angles," Piper said.

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