City eliminates Job Center fees

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- If those who hire day laborers don’t have to pay to use

the city-run Job Center, then those seeking work shouldn’t either, the

City Council decided Monday.

Council members voted 4 to 1 to eliminate any fee for the city’s

residents -- whether they be workers or employers -- and charge $5 for

nonresident day laborers looking to use the center. Councilwoman Karen

Robinson dissented.

Council members reexamined the existing fees for day laborers at the

Job Center after staffers argued that any fees for contractors would

discourage their use of the center and encourage them to hire those on

the street for free. In turn, they suggested, more workers would take to

the streets to get jobs and the Job Center would not perform its purpose,

which is to keep day laborers in one common area.

The city now charges no fee for contractors and $5 for those seeking

work. On April 1, the council voted to increase the one-time registration

fee from $5 to $10 for Costa Mesa residents and to $15 for people who

live outside the city.

At the same meeting, the council asked staff members to research the

possibility of charging those who do the hiring in an effort to recover

some of the operating costs.

The Job Center, on the corner of 18th Street and Placentia Avenue, is

funded by the taxpayers at a cost of about $87,000 a year. Funds

collected from the existing one-time registration fee for workers bring

in about $16,000 a year, officials said. It also costs $5 to create a

registration package for workers who use the center.

If a fee of $10 were included for contractors, the center would

collect an additional $13,000, bringing the out-of-pocket costs down,

city leaders argued.

Steve Hayman, director of administrative services for Costa Mesa and

the one who ultimately oversees the Job Center, recommended Monday that

no additional fees be charged to contractors.

Hayman reported that no other city charges contractors for the use of

a job center and initial surveys have found that many who find labor at

the center would be opposed to even a nominal fee. Some contractors even

said they would go somewhere else for workers, he said.

Mayor Linda Dixon and Councilman Gary Monahan pushed for contractor

fees, saying a nominal one-time fee should not be too much to pay,

especially when contractors benefit from the availability of cheap labor.

“I have a real hard time believing that the center would be less

effective [if a fee were charged],” Dixon said.

Dixon said she was concerned that the city would charge more to the

workers -- who arguably have fewer resources to afford a fee -- than it

would to those who hire them.

Councilwoman Libby Cowan was also troubled by what she called the

“fairness factor” and made a motion to eliminate the fee for Costa Mesa

workers. Councilman Chris Steel, who is a staunch critic of the center

and has repeatedly called for its closure, seconded the motion.

Robinson said she agreed that Costa Mesa workers should pay less than

nonresidents but could not justify eliminating the fee entirely when it

costs the city money to register workers.

Dixon supported the motion but said she was disappointed that those

who employ day laborers were let off the hook.

“Contractors should feel obligated to pay a small fee to come in and

get these people,” Dixon said. “We are providing a valuable service, and

they deserve to share those costs.”