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Support SF Day Labor Program at 10/17 Meeting
Public support is needed by SF Day Labor Program as Mayor Brown continues his attempts to remove program administration from La Raza Centro Legal.
SF City Hall Launches Another Round Of Attacks
Against Day Labor Program
Despite what appeared to be a victory for the Day Labor Program, Mayor Brown is pushing ahead with his campaign to withdraw the city contract from La Raza Centro Legal. Several weeks ago, City Hall announced that the SF Immigrant Rights Commission would oversee the distribution of funding for the program. As the Commission had previously endorsed La Raza’s administration of the program, this seemed to be a positive step. It is likely that Mission District’s unified support for the program and continuous pressure from the workers prompted this decision. All of the workers’ marches, rallies, pickets, and ally support letters played an important role in encouraging this unexpected move.
However, it is now unclear exactly what the decision making process will be for selecting an agency to administer the program, as contradictory statements have been coming from the Mayor’s Office. One possibility appears to be that the Commission might have to conduct a third request for proposals, forcing La Raza to jump through further bureaucratic hoops. To add further confusion, Sergio Canjura, the Mayor’s Mission District liaison, is informing community members that he will be overseeing the decision making process, a decidedly negative prospect for La Raza.
The city has also posed another set-back by stalling the permit process for construction on the Program’s new Cesar Chavez Street building. The city will now require the Program to conduct a $7000 Traffic Impact Study, which will take a minimum of several months to complete, prior to holding the necessary hearing. This implies that the day labor program, which receives less than two drop-in employers per day and specializes in dispatching workers directly to job-sites, will drastically alter and increase the flow of traffic in the neighborhood. We will still be attending the scheduled hearing date of Thursday, October 17th and speaking during the comment period to register our opposition to this stalling tactic.
Mayor Brown’s campaign against the Day Labor Program began in early 2002. Following the appointment of a new Mission District Police Captain, day laborers on Cesar Chavez St. began facing escalated levels of police ticketing and harassment. The workers organized to protest this discrimination, holding the Mayor and the Police Chief accountable for the situation, and asserted their rights to run the program from a new location on Cesar Chavez St. Mayor Brown then retaliated by withdrawing the money previously allotted to the program through the Mayor’s Office on Community Development and placing it up for public bid.
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS FOR THE DAY LABOR PROGRAM?
1) WE ARE STILL FIGHTING TO MOVE INTO OUR NEW BUILDING! Despite having a signed lease, we face an indefinite delay before beginning construction. What was originally to be the final step, a meeting with SF Planning Department on Thursday, October 17th to obtain the necessary permits, will now be a crucial moment to register dissent. Please attend the hearing to show your support! It will take place at SF City Hall, Room 400; public testimony begins at 1:30pm promptly. Please feel free to call Elly Kugler’s cell phone (415) 235-0162 on that afternoon to check-in about our place on the agenda.
2) PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES AS THE SITUATION REMAINS CRITICAL! The campaign continues and we will need your on-going support.
For more information, please contact Renee Saucedo at (415) 553-3404, or renee [at] lrcl.org.
Thank you for all your work and support!
Que viva la clase obrera!
Que vivan los jornaleros de San Francisco!
Against Day Labor Program
Despite what appeared to be a victory for the Day Labor Program, Mayor Brown is pushing ahead with his campaign to withdraw the city contract from La Raza Centro Legal. Several weeks ago, City Hall announced that the SF Immigrant Rights Commission would oversee the distribution of funding for the program. As the Commission had previously endorsed La Raza’s administration of the program, this seemed to be a positive step. It is likely that Mission District’s unified support for the program and continuous pressure from the workers prompted this decision. All of the workers’ marches, rallies, pickets, and ally support letters played an important role in encouraging this unexpected move.
However, it is now unclear exactly what the decision making process will be for selecting an agency to administer the program, as contradictory statements have been coming from the Mayor’s Office. One possibility appears to be that the Commission might have to conduct a third request for proposals, forcing La Raza to jump through further bureaucratic hoops. To add further confusion, Sergio Canjura, the Mayor’s Mission District liaison, is informing community members that he will be overseeing the decision making process, a decidedly negative prospect for La Raza.
The city has also posed another set-back by stalling the permit process for construction on the Program’s new Cesar Chavez Street building. The city will now require the Program to conduct a $7000 Traffic Impact Study, which will take a minimum of several months to complete, prior to holding the necessary hearing. This implies that the day labor program, which receives less than two drop-in employers per day and specializes in dispatching workers directly to job-sites, will drastically alter and increase the flow of traffic in the neighborhood. We will still be attending the scheduled hearing date of Thursday, October 17th and speaking during the comment period to register our opposition to this stalling tactic.
Mayor Brown’s campaign against the Day Labor Program began in early 2002. Following the appointment of a new Mission District Police Captain, day laborers on Cesar Chavez St. began facing escalated levels of police ticketing and harassment. The workers organized to protest this discrimination, holding the Mayor and the Police Chief accountable for the situation, and asserted their rights to run the program from a new location on Cesar Chavez St. Mayor Brown then retaliated by withdrawing the money previously allotted to the program through the Mayor’s Office on Community Development and placing it up for public bid.
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS FOR THE DAY LABOR PROGRAM?
1) WE ARE STILL FIGHTING TO MOVE INTO OUR NEW BUILDING! Despite having a signed lease, we face an indefinite delay before beginning construction. What was originally to be the final step, a meeting with SF Planning Department on Thursday, October 17th to obtain the necessary permits, will now be a crucial moment to register dissent. Please attend the hearing to show your support! It will take place at SF City Hall, Room 400; public testimony begins at 1:30pm promptly. Please feel free to call Elly Kugler’s cell phone (415) 235-0162 on that afternoon to check-in about our place on the agenda.
2) PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES AS THE SITUATION REMAINS CRITICAL! The campaign continues and we will need your on-going support.
For more information, please contact Renee Saucedo at (415) 553-3404, or renee [at] lrcl.org.
Thank you for all your work and support!
Que viva la clase obrera!
Que vivan los jornaleros de San Francisco!
For more information:
http://www.sfdaylabor.org
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If the Mission district is unified about this subject then what are the neighbors compalaining about? If the proposed Cesar Chavez center that they are planning won't bring any traffic to the neighborhood then I ask you again what are the neighbors complaining about. Most of the workers I see are standing on the street corner waiting for work not "taking public transportation to the job site". Have you seen the size of the proposed Day labor hall. It's the size of a shoebox. Funny when I see the contractors coming to my neighborhood 7 days a week it sure doesn't seem like La Raza is sending them to the site. You think the contractors would be taking advantage of such a service. Saving them money and time.
Once again all I see is La Raza trying to shove the day labors onto residential community streets instead of trying to find an appropriate site in an industrial area that is large enough to accomodate all these workers. It's called Bayshore and any of the numerous, double-wide, industrial streets that exist less than two to three blocks from Cesar Chavez. Right off the same exits many of the contractors are already using. Close to many home repair shops and nurseries.
But instead La Raza doesn't really care about any of the people that live in this neighborhood or the day laborers. Only there own self promotion and "self-sacrifice" in the name of the day laborers. Shame on you La Raza. I hope with all my heart you loose the day labor contract becuase you don't care about anyone.