EDITORIAL

The Job Center opened Oct. 4, 1988, to help remove loiterers lining

streets and gathering in Lions Park in Costa Mesa.

And by every account, the city-funded employment center has

accomplished that mission.

Despite that, a few residents continue to blast it, saying it has

attracted illegal immigrants to the city.

But that argument is patently false.

Migrant workers, legal or illegal, have been fixtures on the Westside

long before the Job Center existed. They, along with others needing

employment, were problematic for law enforcement and city officials as

they loitered at Lions Park while awaiting a day job.

The Job Center solved that problem and goes a step further by

regulating the job-providing process.

Now, a group has stepped in to defend and support the Job Center,

knowing full well that the center could use an updated tweaking to ensure

its continued success.

The group couldn’t have come along at a better time, as Councilman

Chris Steel and his supporters continue pursuing Steel’s campaign goal of

eliminating the center. Bill Turpit, a member of both the Latino Business

Network and Latino Community Network, will lead the new group, dubbed

Friends of the Costa Mesa Job Center.

The Friends aim to ensure the City Council understands the Job Center

is a community asset.

In September, the council asked city staffers to develop remedies for

a few problems the center has. The council will revisit the issue March

18.

So far, the staff’s initial research reveals the Job Center is

successful.

We at the Pilot have always supported the Job Center as a place to

centralize migrant and day workers, though we agree it can be improved

and kinks, such as the checking of valid identification, need to be

hammered out.

We hope the Friends come to the table with answers and suggestions to

benefit the Job Center and make it better, while also appeasing some of

its critics.

At the least, we’re glad they’ve stepped forward to ensure that both

sides of the Job Center story are told.