Thread: Vista Business Owners Weigh in on Day Laborers

http://nctimes.com/articles/2006/06/..._366_24_06.txt

Vista business owners weigh in on day labor

By: CRAIG TENBROECK - Staff Writer

VISTA ---- City officials have said the use of a downtown shopping center as a pick-up spot for day laborers disrupts the community and needs to be addressed, but business owners in the center expressed divergent opinions this week as to the extent of the problem and what should be done about it.

Several merchants contacted by the North County Times said day labor has become such a heated topic in the community that they would prefer not to enter the debate. In February, hundreds of demonstrators on both sides of the illegal immigration issue held competing protests at the site. In recent weeks, a group calling itself the Vista Citizens Brigade has stopped by the center to caution would-be employers against hiring men they suspect are here illegally.

"We're staying out of it," said Michael Recht, who, along with two partners, is both a business owner and landlord in the center. Recht said nobody has complained to him about the workers, but noted that he works out of National City, not the Vista store.


Andrew Barlow, owner of the 2-month-old Sons of Italy Pizzeria offered a similar comment: "I like to stay nice and neutral."

The central Vista shopping center, near Escondido and Santa Fe avenues, is home to several small stores ---- including a cigar shop, copy store and fitness center for women ---- and is anchored by a Vons grocery store. Each morning, dozens of Latino men gather along the parking lot fringe, waiting to be offered gardening, construction and other short-term work.

Some city officials have said the gathering can be intimidating.

"We've gotten a number of comments from property owners as well as customers," Mayor Morris Vance said Thursday.

Business owner Gaby Berdugo said the laborers, who often rest in the shade of his discount store, are quiet and don't cause problems. "They can be there, I don't care," he said.

But Salam Gabrail, the owner of Sam's Cigars, said his patrons regularly complain about the crowd out front. With constant crowds in the parking lot and traffic moving in and out, "it's the most dangerous shopping center I've ever seen."

Ok-Hwa Kim, who runs a laundry business nearby, said her female customers are intimidated when the laborers mistake them for would-be employers and swarm their vehicles. "People are scared to come," she said, adding "I wish the city would do something for us."

City officials say they are engaging the day-labor issue on multiple fronts.

At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the City Council is poised to approve a controversial ordinance that would require those who hire off-site day laborers to register with the city and present workers with written terms of employment. City Attorney Darold Pieper has said the law is designed to protect the laborers from workplace abuse, but critics have labeled it a thinly veiled attempt to eliminate hiring sites and are planning to protest before the meeting.

Meanwhile, in a move opposed by anti-illegal-immigration activists, city officials are hunting for a site away from downtown that could be used as a dedicated hiring spot. With the council expressing little desire to spend city funds on the project, staffers are also looking for a social service agency to run the site.

Assistant City Manager Rick Dudley said one group has expressed interest ---- he declined to provide a name ---- but added the "location is still definitely a concern."

Gabrail and Kim said they approve of the city's efforts and want to see the laborers gather elsewhere.

Any registration requirements, Gabrail said, would probably deter would-be employers from hiring day laborers in Vista.

"I think it's going to slow it down, and over time they will all disappear," he predicted.

But a few stores down, Diana Ortiz, whose father owns Yum Yum Donuts, said the laborers are a valuable source of morning business. "They're our customers," she said. "We don't want them removed from here."

On Monday, the mayor and city manager met with a small group of business and property owners from the shopping center to outline the city's recent efforts and lay out what officials perceive to be Vista's legal limitations, Vance said.

"What we can't do is to enforce other laws that have to do with either immigration or with loitering," Vance said. "Those are the things that we really don't have authority over."

If the registration ordinance is approved, Dudley said, the city will need the merchants' cooperation in getting the word out. "Having the businesses there helping us will be huge," he said.

Contact staff writer Craig TenBroeck at (760) 631-6621 or ctenbroeck@nctimes.com.

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Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff.
Daren wrote on June 24, 2006 10:27 PM:"The people of North County need to be aware of the businesses that pander to criminal illegals and refrain from supporting those misguided establishments."

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