New Fliers to Target City’s Day Laborers

The city has tried moving a crowd of laborers that gathers downtown every morning to look for work. They’ve even passed an ordinance to curtail their activities. Now, some City Council members want to print fliers that would explain to the workers the city law.

The fliers, written in English and Spanish, would summarize an ordinance that bars people from darting into streets to solicit business from passing drivers and also forbids solicitations from city sidewalks.

Although the council passed the ordinance in July, hoping to keep the men from mobbing cars, some laborers still rush up to motorists and ask for work.

The proposed fliers would also warn the laborers that those who violate the ordinance will be prosecuted.

City officials have toyed with several other ways to move the men from the corner of High Street and Spring Road, where business owners complain that the laborers scare off customers.

Council members even discussed asking the state’s Employment Development Department to open a part-time office in Moorpark to help the men find work, but employment department officials rejected the idea. The council will discuss the flyer at a meeting Wednesday.