MOORPARK : Panel to Propose 2 Worker Hiring Sites

A Moorpark task force plans to recommend to the City Council next month that the city establish a hiring site for day laborers either at the Civic Center complex on Moorpark Avenue or on a vacant lot on Spring Road, a city councilman said.

Councilman Bernardo M. Perez said the council is expected on May 20 to consider the recommendations of the task force, which is composed mainly of local business people, city officials and day laborers. If the council approves one of the suggested locations, it would be the first official hiring site for day laborers in Ventura County.

About 30 to 50 Moorpark day laborers congregate in front of the Tipsy Fox convenience store at High Street and Spring Road, where they wait to be hired for jobs in construction, landscaping or other work.

Last summer, the store owner asked the council to find another place for the men to gather, because their presence was scaring away potential customers.

In January, the council rejected a proposal to establish a hiring site on a vacant lot at High Street and Moorpark Avenue.

High Street merchants and nearby residents had objected to the proposed location, saying that a day laborer hiring site was not appropriate for the center of the city’s historic shopping district.

The council then formed the task force to study whether it should establish a day laborer hiring site and, if so, where.