Labor center to stay open

What appeared at first to be a possible death blow to the city’s only day labor center is now looking to be less of a setback than expected, officials said this week.

The Luis M. Ochoa Job Center was put in jeopardy after an April 17 Orange County Board of Supervisors vote ended Huntington Beach’s contract with the Coastline Community College District to run the center. Legal issues seemed to make it impossible to keep the center going without the county’s blessing, but the problem has been solved, said Jim Lamb, project manager for the city’s economic development department.

“It looks like we dodged a bullet,” Lamb said. “If everything goes as planned, we’ll be able to continue operating the job center both in the short run and the long run.”

The district will sign papers with the city directly, he said. Though earlier he feared he wouldn’t have the authority to keep paying the district to run the center after June 1, City Atty. Jennifer McGrath told him otherwise. The city can keep paying until October when the yearly budget runs out, at which time the new contract should be finished.

Councilman Keith Bohr applauded the news, saying the center provided an important service and let the city have at least a little oversight over casual labor.

“That’s good news,” Bohr said. “The center serves a great purpose both for those that use it as workers and those that use it as a resource to get labor. We’ve had concerns about people hanging out on the corners in neighborhoods and at Home Depot, and this is a constructive, one-stop shop.”

The district came through at the right time with its offer to sign a new contract, Lamb said.

“They really stepped up to the plate at a time when groups are trying to shut these things down,” he said. “They provide a real need.”

The Board of Supervisors’ vote ended an agreement between the city and the county that said the center was part of the county’s job programs, as of June 1. The agreement involved no money or material support, but county staff said at the time they didn’t want to be associated with a particular city service because they provide employment help at regional centers not tied to one city. Those regional centers do not handle day laborers.

Councilwoman Debbie Cook said the center was worth keeping, if only to prevent day laborers from soliciting work on street corners without regulation.

“I certainly know it’s not any solution to any major issues,” Cook said. “But the police chief thinks its helpful, and I think I’d go along with him on that one.”