The Observer Newspapers | Candidates Avoid Day Labor Issue

April 17, 2008

Candidates Avoid Day Labor Issue

To the editor:

It seems like it is the issue that won't go away. I was going to refrain from another comment on the day laborer issue, but the apparent "head in the sand" approach to this by those running for election, especially the incumbents, changed my mind.

The previous Town Council approved an official workers center. I was one of those in favor of finding a way to require those using the center to prove they had legal presence in the country. That did not come to pass, but the center did meet two of its primary goals: provide an organized site and move the bulk of those seeking day labor from their gathering point around the 7-Eleven at Alabama Drive and Elden Street.

Now, we've come full circle. The area around the 7-Eleven is once again populated with day laborers. There is an attempt to enforce zoning laws to prevent them from standing on private property. I, for one, would much rather members of the Herndon Police force spend more time on enforcement that has a more direct affect on our well being instead of standing near, or sitting in, their cruisers as a passive deterrent to day laborers gathering on private property.

But, how many of the candidates, including those who ran in 2006, can pretty much ignore the current situation is beyond me. It's as if they don't drive around our part of Herndon and note the ever-growing number of day laborers hanging out.

A number of those campaigning for office are suggesting a continued weak economy and enforcement of overcrowding will, eventually, rid us of this problem. While they clutch to that kind of wishful thinking, it appears they are willing to let this problem grow. For those who remember the years leading up to the rough-and tumble campaign of 2006, if what's going on now isn't a great definition of irony, I don't know what is.

Walter Hadlock

Herndon