As the issue of day laborers and a potential hiring site continues to percolate around Herndon, the mayor and a councilman reached out to neighbors in Maryland to see how they operate under similar circumstances.
"I think the primary reason the mayor and I went to Casa (of Maryland) was to see how other communities are dealing with the challenges presented by the day labor population," Councilman Harlon Reece said. "I found it very educational."
For his part, the mayor also found the trip to be eye-opening. "I was encouraged by the experience of Montgomery County and the Casa of Maryland site."
Established in 1991 as a project to assist a burgeoning population of day workers in the area, Casa of Maryland site has grown steadily into regionally renown day labor hiring site and employment and training center.
In 1993, Montgomery County began talks with community, business church, organizations and worker representatives. After two years in an East Silver Spring trailer, Casa moved into its present University Boulevard location.
"I saw both regulated and unregulated sites, I liked the regulated sites better because they do control the contractors and they do provide identification cards for all of the day laborers," said Thoesen, a move he has long championed. "I think this is in the interest of the day laborers and it provides safety."
As part of their outreach into the community, Casa officials also provide legal help, free of charge, to help file complaints about employers who exploit day workers.
Casa's advocacy doesn't end with the employer-employee relationship. Their advocacy arm lobbies the state capitol for everything from securing in-state tuition for children of undocumented workers to granting the right of undocumented workers the ability to apply for a Maryland driver's license.
In addition to a hiring site and job training session, Casa also has English language classes and cancer and HIV/AIDS prevention screenings. Sara Ince, Reston Interfaith's director of social services, who attended the conference, called Casa da Maryland, "the Taj Mahal of day labor sites."
<b>"IT'S INTERESTING</b> to listen to the comments coming from Herndon, because those are the same exact comments we heard 10 years ago and if we hadn't acted the way we did, we would be in such worse shape today," said Montgomery County executive Doug Duncan.
Reece was impressed with the mechanics of the operation.
"The workers were kept back behind the building," Reece said. "The contractors are greeted by a coordinator. There's a lottery to manage the workers. It's much more organized site than what we have."
Impressed with the structure, Reece was, nevertheless, worried about the broad reach of Casa da Maryland. "One of the things I found concerning their focus is total advocacy. I am not ready to jump into that sort of thing," Reece said. "We should move one step at a time. And really Virginia and Maryland are two different states politically."
Reston Interfaith is looking to move the day labor site off the corner of Alabama Drive and Elden Street and back to the old Herndon Lumber site off Spring Street. "With Casa, that is exactly what we would be looking to do," said Ince.
The site visit to Casa helped Reece see the advantages of, at the very least, a temporary site. "To be honest, it certainly convinced me that we ought to try doing a pilot at the old Lumber Yard site since the current property owner is willing to do that," said Reece. "We might as well see if having an organized site, run by, not the government, but by a not-for-profit organization wouldn't be better for the day laborers and the town."
The conference was a valuable tool for Ince, she said. "I thought the best thing about the conference was that we had four laborers from Herndon participating," she said. "[Their presence] showed me how committed they are to learning all they can about making a site in Herndon work for all of us. I certainly came away very excited to get this done in Herndon."
Much of the talk throughout the conference was talking about how integral Montgomery County was in bringing Casa to life. "I'd like to see a more county-wide approach to this thing," Reece said. The councilman said he now favored a pilot program in Herndon to see if that is something that would work countywide. Reece doubted that the United States would get any help from the county given all the budget problems the county is facing.
"I think it is unfortunate that we aren't getting more help from the county than we are," Reece said. "I don't want to get a whole town versus county thing going here, but it's kind of unfair that we have been on our own here. And it is the county that has taken the lead over there in Montgomery County."
<b>DURING THE CASA</b> open house on Friday, conference members, including Thoesen and Reece, were able to meet with day laborers like Francisca Estrada. Estrada is a Casa success story. The former day laborer told the audience what Casa meant to her. "Now I have two jobs and they both want to hire me full-time, one as a manager," she said, smiling.
Interacting with some of the day laborers in attendance at Casa, and later at the conference in Washington, was very important for the Herndon mayor. "Speaking with actual day laborers was very helpful for most people. It gave us some insight into what they have to do and face every day to get work," Thoesen said. "In addition, it was nice to see that day laborers who had appropriate documentation were able to find fairly permanent jobs, which certainly helps them move up the economic latter."
The mayor said he had a greater appreciation of the role of the region. "People need to work together because you can't have just one successful site, because hopefully, if Herndon does provide a successful site that other sites will be replicated such that the day laborer opportunities can be spread throughout the region," Thoesen said. "We certainly don't want to create a situation where Herndon is the only successful site and we will be working hard to make sure that doesn't happen within the region."
During the plenary session, Duncan, and fellow panel member, Tom Perez, a member of the Montgomery County Council discounted Thoesen's suggestion that a model day labor site would actually attract more workers to the town. "Nobody will move to Herndon because you have a good day labor site," Duncan said. "They will come here for the good schools, good housing."
Reece, too, came away from the day-long conference with a better understanding that Herndon wasn't alone in tackling these the day labor issues. "You have to get the collaboration and to get everyone on board. So maybe we are not there alone, either," Reece said. "I have been a little frustrated that it has gone on as long as it has without improvement. I don't know if that gives me a whole lot of comfort because I knew we weren't alone in this."
In talking with people in other jurisdictions, Reece said the misconceptions that exist in Herndon, exist in Philadelphia.
"The feeling that local law enforcement can enforce federal law, when, in fact, it just can't be done," Reece said. "And that all of these folks are illegal aliens and that is just not true."