Mayor takes center stage

After this week’s decision by the Costa Mesa City Council to close

down the Placentia Avenue Job Center, which has provided a hiring

hall for day laborers since 1988, many are wondering what spurred the

council majority to go to this measure at this time. We tracked down

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor as he was vacationing, and he kindly

agreed to answer some questions posed by Daily Pilot Editor Tony

Dodero.

The job center has been a contentious issue for many years. Why do

you think now was the right time to close it?

The Job Center costs us about $100,000 a year to operate, yet we

only place a little over 30 people a day. This clearly can be

absorbed by a private sector business such as Labor Ready. Why should

all Costa Mesa taxpayers fund this when many from other cities use

this service? Employers, not employees, pay the fee at Labor Ready.

As a general rule, government should not do what the private sector

already does.

How do you think closing it will help the city?

It will save the city money. It will allow the private sector such

as Labor Ready to increase their business. Taxes will be withheld and

workers comp will be paid instead of a cash-under-the-table basis

that gives an unfair advantage over competition. Ultimately, there

will be less loitering, solicitation and less use of city resources,

yet there will still be a safe place for them to go to find work.

The idea of farming out the work of the job center to private

enterprise has come up. How would that work?

As I already mentioned, Labor Ready already exists and provides a

service to help those seeking employment. We are contacting Labor

Ready to see how we can help facilitate that. There are successful

phone-in programs, which would eliminate the need to wait five hours

for the slim chance of finding a job. We place so few out of the

total that seek work, and this would be more efficient.

City officials have mostly characterized the job center as a

successful venture. In fact, some cities have even used it as a

model. Why would you want to close something that many consider a

success?

I guess some would not consider it a success to spend $100,000 a

year to provide 30 jobs a day when Labor Ready can do it at zero

expense to the taxpayer. Labor Ready is a successful venture. It

provides a safe and respectable environment to find work. Why would

we want to provide unfair competition to the private sector?

You are well aware of police issues when it comes to resources.

What is your answer to the Police Department’s concern that the

closure will divert officers from other areas?

Funds are always shifted as different needs arise. Emergencies and

high-priority response types of calls will always take precedent. We

are spending resources now to discourage solicitation, so this is not

new. Yes, it will take some focus for a while to encourage people to

use Labor Ready or other similar businesses. Many people from other

cities use the center at the subsidized expense of Costa Mesa. All

this does is encourage people to use a private business instead of a

publicly funded one.

Do you have a plan if the closure of the job center creates a

return of the loitering problem at Lions Park?

The Job Center is not going to close immediately. It will be

phased out slowly. We will no longer be allowing people or businesses

from other cities to use the center. This will decrease use

considerably. There will be enforcement, and people will be

encouraged to use Labor Ready or similar services.

Some are implying that the job center closure was less of a

financial move than it was an anti-immigrant or anti-Latino move. How

would you answer that charge?

That is silly. Both of my parents immigrated here legally from

different countries, and I have complete respect for those who want

to work. I believe it is reasonable to ask that our laws be upheld in

the process.