Day Laborer Issue Heard By Council

By Nao Braverman
Nathaniel Wolper, accompanied by another local resident, added a choral performance to the lively public commentary at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
“Keep our valley safe we pray,” they sang in harmony.
Other attendants also had comments about the safety of Ojai, referencing a recent local protest, which pitted people in support of, and against, illegal immigrants. Some locals said they were shocked to see such animosity in Ojai. Others said they were bothered by Ojai’s day laborers. All asked for the issue to be addressed by the City Council.
Ashley Meier, owner of Cowboy Babies and her employee, Britney Pergson, said that the day laborers standing near the children’s clothing store stared and made inappropriate comments. Their presence made employees uncomfortable and hurt business, said Meier.
Ojai resident George Huitrado suggested that the city should find a better place for day laborers to stand. A fluent Spanish speaker, he agreed that if the city found an appropriate place, he would help communicate it to the laborers.
Another local resident, Peter Donovan, suggested building a station with an overhang and rest rooms where day laborers could comfortably wait for work.
“I do encourage the city to address this issue,” said local peace activist, Evan Austin. “Let’s do this compassionately and thoughtfully.”
City manager Jere Kersnar said that the topic had been considered before, and agreed to revisit it with city staff.
In other City Council news Mayor Sue Horgan and Councilman Joe DeVito were appointed to serve as a sub-committee, working with Kersnar to select an attorney to advise the council on the city’s Housing Element.
Although the job of providing legal counsel was previously allocated to city attorney Monte Widders, members of the public had complained of an alleged financial conflict of interest.
Widders did not believe there was such a conflict but sought a formal opinion from the Fair Political Practices Commission and recused himself in the meantime. As the written opinion is expected to take several months, the city must find an interim attorney to represent them during Housing Element discussions. The committee was thus formed so that the selection process for a special attorney could begin.
Also at the meeting, Public Works director Mike Culver asked the city to authorize the application for a $250,448 federal grant for public transportation in rural areas.
Since 1989 the city has relied on this grant to offset the costs of running the Ojai Trolley service, said Culver.
The trolley service is paid for by a combination of state, federal and county funding, with the fees also contributing a small amount to expenses.
Culver said that the annual ridership of the trolley decreased by 23 percent from 139,733 in the 2004-2005 year, to 107,660 in the 2005-2006 year when the fee was increased. There has been a successive 4 percent decrease in ridership each following year, according to Culver. He said that this could be attributed to declining enrollment in the school district, as some students take the trolley to school. Culver added that although the ridership was decreasing, the trolley still provides a necessary service. The grant application was authorized.