July 16, 2007
Morning Roundup: Parks and Politics Edition
Good morning, Washington. If you haven't already, make sure to take the time to read one of the stories that ran over the weekend about one of the important legacies Lady Bird Johnson left behind for our city: the work of her Committee for a More Beautiful Capital, which created more park space and added D.C.'s signature tulips, daffodils and cherry trees to existing triangles throughout the city. The Post has an excellent overview of her work to make Washington a nicer place to visit and live, and the AP has a short story as well. The former first lady passed away in Austin on Wednesday at the age of 94.
Council Looks at Day Laborer Center Locations: City officials have settled on two possible sites near the Home Depot on Rhode Island Ave. NE for a day laborer center in th District, which would be designed to help laborers find jobs by offering training and employment services -- though the Washington Times reports that it's still not clear how or whether D.C. officials would check the immigration status of the laborers who came to the center.
Gray Questions Reinoso's Job: After delaying a confirmation vote on Mayor Fenty's nomination of Victor Reinoso for Deputy Mayor for Education until September, Council chairman Vincent Gray is quoted in the Examiner as questioning whether there is even a need for a Department of Education, the new department being led by Reinoso. The Deputy Mayor for education is supposed to advise the mayor on education strategy, coordinate education-related initiatives among all city agencies, and develop partnerships with the private sector.
Briefly Noted: Explosion in Fairfax likely result of attempt to make homemade fireworks ... Panel votes to renovate Old Naval Hospital ... Two cars crash on different residential properties off Foxhall Rd. Saturday ... Judges respond to concerns about jury pool diversity ... Police investigate drive-by shooting on East Capitol Street.
Photo by miamabanta
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It's going to be REALLY interesting to see how the Rhode Island Avenue day labor site goes down with the neighborhood. Will the crowd that hangs around the paint stores in Shaw migrate there? Will the neighbors go all Loudon County on the day laborers?
Good God please no day laborer site in D.C!!! WTF?! how bout setting up a government-run site where people can use illegal drugs?
What part of illegal dont people understand?
If i hadn't just bought in this town, i'd be high-tailing it to Prince William County.
guest #2,
What part of discriminatory hegemony of the privileged and closed-minded don't YOU understand? I could get into 14th Amendment issues with your analogue to the immigration issue, but I don't want to overload you with truth and blow that feeble mind.
Although I am happy for you that--along with buying into the entire status quo despite all its faults--you can also afford to move into the city. Welcome to the real world, where not everybody is the same as yourself! The world changes, and contains uncertainty and grey area...so should our society and laws. Get used to it!!!
A government sponsored day labor site in the nations capital is sure to bring some talk radio show fodder.
And guest #2, what's wrong with people looking for work? What's illegal about not being on a payroll?
BTW the photo above must be from Dupont Circle. The guy with the chips is a regular there.
Assuming that all immigration laws have been followed by the job seekers: What is illegal, better yet imoral, is how employees are treated and all the laws that are skirted. Employers pay less than minimum wage, no OSHA, no SS, no withholding, no health care, no workers comp. These are not weekend warriors looking for some help; these are licensed business picking up cheap disposable labor.
If it weren't for day laborers in DC an awful lot of projects wouldn't get done. It's time to acknowledge a reality and try to get a handle on it, rather than pretending it doesn't exist.
Simply put, by and large DC residents quit doing this type of manual labor some time ago. So it's a bit hypocritical of us to complain when immigrants come here to do the work we won't do.
And most of the neighbors will be fine with it. A vocal minority will get their panties in a bunch, mostly because the day laborers are hispanic. But there may be legitimate issues with day laborers urinating in public, etc. A day labor site should resolve those issues, theoretically.