By Christian Mignot

In late July 2000, a no-solicitation ordinance was passed by the Mountain View City Council to break up the congregations of day workers lining El Camino Real in search of employment. There still seems to be no clear solution to the problem.

When the Mountain View ordinance was approved, it followed a similar one set up in August 1999 by the Los Altos City Council. The laws converted a long stretch of El Camino Real around San Antonio Road into a no-stopping, no-soliciting zone.

As a result of the ordinance, the day workers were forced to seek out employment opportunities at the St. Joseph the Worker Center on Jordan Street. The center is a non-profit organization run by the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Its chief objective is to match employers with workers, as well as providing free ESL classes and a range of financial and health services. It also sets up fair conditions for employees by forcing an $8 minimum wage, and guaranteeing payment by having the employer sign up at the center beforehand.

Full support of the center by both councils seemed to be the ideal way of making business owners happy while finding employment for the workers. The only problem: soon the small center was swamped with demand. “After the new law, many more workers came to our center as well as employers,” said Ana Morena, from the center. “Even so, we are starting to worry if we will have enough jobs.”

Many believe that the ordinance has been an effective measure. Among these is Mountain View Council member Nadine Levin: “My understanding is that the problem has dissipated.”

Along with putting in place the ordinance, the council helped the St. Joseph the Worker Center identify alternatives to its Jordan Street site. At no time, though, did the council help to finance the center, even though the new ordinance put a great deal of stress on an organization with minimal funds to start.

The ordinance has caused greater problems for the center. There are so many people present during the day that it is necessary for the workers to stand outside the building. This has led to further neighborhood complaints, which, combined with the center’s lack of finance, has caused the landlord of the building to terminate the organization’s lease. The center has until August to leave the premises.

According to Sergeant Hartley of the Los Altos Police Department, this may cause a greater problem for both cities.

“This has been a chronic problem for the police department,” he said. “The ordinance requires a whole lot of manpower and is quite difficult to enforce. We are still looking for more solutions to deal with it.”

Mary Martinez, director of the St. Joseph the Worker Center, believed that the ordinance has been a failure. Although the law may have removed most of the workers from the streets, it has not been supported by any measures or financial aid to effectively stem the flow of new workers and provide as much employment as possible. “The council felt that they have done what they have to. Now they don’t really feel that they have to do anything more.”

Furthermore, Martinez said, “The community is more or less ignoring the problem the center is now left to deal with. We receive very little funding or support through programs from communities that are among the richest in California. It is time for the Los Altos and Mountain View councils to sit down and come up with better alternatives.” Martinez pointed out that another such center in San Jose is functioning smoothly with help from the local council.

One business owner from Los Altos claimed that the presence of the day workers intimidated customers and damaged business. He said that a lack of enforcement combined with an increasing number of day workers has rendered the ordinance useless.

A business manager who wished to remain anonymous stated: “The workers have never been a problem for me. They are courteous and friendly, and I really cannot say anything against them. On the other hand, I can understand how if people are not local and don’t know what is going on, they may be frightened by a group of males standing around as such.”

The next few months are bound to be crucial determinants of the effectiveness of the no-solicitation ordinance. The council can be certain of one thing: this problem is not about to go away by itself.