Residents are up to necks in blight and human waste BY RYAN HYATT
By Daily Press Staff Writer
11TH STREET — Residents here concerned about crime in their neighborhood — and excrement on their sidewalks — have asked City Hall to step in and help regulate the day laborers who gather in this part of town.
For decades, immigrant workers have loitered near 11th Street and Olympic Boulevard each day in the hopes of finding work. They congregate on the sidewalks, keeping a watchful eye on traffic coming and going from the Salvation Army outlet, Bourget Brothers supply store, the old Fisher Lumber site and other businesses from which they might be called upon to help with construction, landscaping, home improvement, moving and other “fix-up” jobs.
However, residents have grown weary of the blight created by the situation, which they deem to be out of control. On Tuesday, a group of them asked the Santa Monica City Council to do something about it, telling their elected leaders that crime has spiked in the neighborhood, including robberies and rape.
In addition, the residents pointed out that the area lacks bathrooms, prompting the laborers to urinate and defecate on the sidewalks.
In July 2003, City Hall was authorized to spend $2,000 on portable toilets in the neighborhood to deter people from relieving themselves in public.
Several portable toilets were to be added to the stretch along 11th Street between Colorado Avenue and Olympic Boulevard as part of a City Council response to complaints from residents fed up with the sight and stench of urine and feces.
However, those portable toilets are not there today, and the day laborer situation is becoming worse, according to some residents.
“I know these people have to work, but I recently counted 175 of them out there,” resident Gene Griffith told the council on Tuesday. “That’s simply too many lined up to work in one spot.”
Resident Linda Rider is one of those hoping City Hall can find a better way to regulate the human traffic on 11th Street.
“We are your constituents and the day laborers are not,” Rider told the council on Tuesday. “We live and work in Santa Monica and do business here.
“It is your job to resolve the situation.” Residents outlined ways they believe City Hall can help. One of the ideas floated is to establish a center where workers can go to sign up for jobs, a site that would provide bathrooms and drinking water.
Reports indicate day labor centers are becoming an increasingly popular way for municipalities to address immigrant worker issues among the border states. In Fort Worth, Texas, the city’s economic and community development department opened a day labor center in December of 2001. According to the city’s Web site, officials wanted to have a “new, safe location for the day laborers to find employment.” The 7,200-square-foot facility has helped provide jobs for as many as 100 laborers in a single day.
Each morning, a bus picks up laborers from the Fort Worth Salvation Army and other stops throughout the city’s downtown area. As contractors arrive each day, they let staff know what type of workers they need. The laborers are assigned jobs as their names come up on a list. They are placed on the list according to the number they draw. The city of Forth Worth doesn’t charge for the service.
Santa Monica City Manager Susan McCarthy said City Hall has received requests in the past to try to address concerns related to day laborers. The notion of creating a day-laborer center failed because City Hall couldn’t afford to create and maintain one, McCarthy said, citing that securing a site in close proximity to 11th Street was too expensive.
In addition, City Hall had trouble mustering support for the cause from the business community, as well as other local service providers.
At the City Council’s suggestion, McCarthy said City Hall would again look into a day-labor center, as well as other options that may help address resident concerns.
However, McCarthy was not optimistic City Hall would be successful in its attempts, mostly due to the same issues it has faced in the past.
“We’re clearly going to keep our eyes on this, but I doubt the level of support from the business community or agency providers has changed,” McCarthy said.
Meanwhile, City Councilman Bobby Shriver, who has a business background, said that if such a center charged the contractors and laborers a minimal fee, City Hall or a business owner may not only be able to afford operating such a site, but find it worthwhile to do so.
“I’m sympathetic to the idea and curious to find some way to manage (a day-labor center) in a professional way,” Shriver said.
If a day-labor center is not possible, residents said they would like City Hall to explore other options. One proposal — to establish a “no loitering” zone that would make congregating illegal — was subsequently discarded by City Hall. Other suggestions included posting signs that would discourage contractors and others from picking up workers; making benefiting businesses pay to provide public bathrooms; and beefing up police patrols on 11th Street.
Santa Monica Police Lt. Alex Padilla said he is not aware of a concentration of crimes, such as robbery or rape, involving 11th Street day laborers. However, Padilla said police have met with 11th Street residents and encouraged them to report suspicious activity to police.
Padilla said the SMPD is working with other groups to find solutions.
On Thursday morning, dozens of day laborers were scattered about on the sidewalks of 11th Street and Olympic Boulevard. Several told the Daily Press they supported the idea of a day-labor center, claiming they often spend entire days standing around, hoping for work, but finding none.
The laborers questioned also said they would use portable bathrooms, if they were available.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 13, 2005. Read the original PDF.