Council OKs emergency funding for day labor center
The City Council approved a $15,000 supplementary grant Tuesday that will keep the Day Laborer Hiring Area operating on Laguna Canyon Road.
Funding for the Laguna Canyon Road center was included in a $20,000 Community Assistance Grant awarded to the Cross-Cultural Council in the 2011-12 city budget, but a significant decrease in fees paid by workers and employers created a shortfall.
Without the council bailout, the center would have closed in April — three months shy of the end of the fiscal year, officials said.
“We differ from other nonprofits because we are doing a service the city asked us to do,” said Cross-Cultural Council spokesman David Peck, to justify the supplement.
Mayor Jane Egly sponsored the agenda bill and recommended the emergency grant.
The center was established in 1993 to address employment solicitation problems in public rights of way objected to by residents, particularly prevalent in North Laguna. The City Council supported grant applications to help fund the center.
Other sources of funding include fees that are collected from those seeking work and those offering it, fundraising and grants from other organizations.
The Cross-Cultural Council also operates the La Playa Center, which teaches English as a second language in cooperation with Even Start at the Laguna Beach Boys & Girls Club.
The annual budget for all Cross-Cultural Council activities is about $80,000, $50,000 of which goes to the hiring center.
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