Post by Freehold Resident on Aug 4, 2006 8:59:07 GMT -5
Mediator: Talks over muster zone near conclusion
Advocates for Latino laborers, Freehold officials seek accord
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/18/05
BY JOSEPH SAPIA
AND NINA RIZZO
FREEHOLD BUREAU
FREEHOLD — Mediation in a case centering on the borough's treatment of Latino immigrants who come here to find work has reached "fish-or-cut-bait" time, according to the court-appointed mediator.
Retired state Supreme Court Justice Daniel J. O'Hern, who practices law in Red Bank, said talks between proponents of day laborers and the borough should wrap up this month, a year after a federal judge ordered the discussions.
At that point, either the sides will have reached an agreement on the major sticking points or the case will be sent back to U.S. District Court Judge Anne E. Thompson for litigation.
The case illustrates the tension between borough officials and Latino residents, particularly day laborers, and its outcome could determine whether those laborers will have a sanctioned place to look for employment.
"There is a need for our residents to have a place that is safe and convenient for all to use," Alejandro Abarca, a Mexican immigrant and coordinator of Casa Freehold, said in a news release. "After all, they also have an American dream of working and putting food on the table."
Legal proceedings began in December 2003, when groups representing the day laborers sued the borough for shutting down a formal muster zone between the railroad tracks and Throckmorton Street, near Rhea Street, as of Jan. 1, 2004.
Three advocacy groups and six day laborers filed the class-action lawsuit, alleging that the borough embarked on a "deliberate and coordinated campaign to harass Latino day workers" at the open-air labor market.
"I would say extensive progress has been made by the parties in addressing a number of the issues prompted by the federal court suit," O'Hern said, declining to be more specific.
Alan Levine, special counsel for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, a plaintiff, said "a great deal of progress" has been made regarding complaints about discriminatory law enforcement and housing inspections.
But the actual muster zone remains a sticking point.
"The muster zone is, obviously, the biggest single issue that parties are unable to reach an agreement on," O'Hern said.
Borough officials said they created the zone more than five years ago to prevent day laborers from waiting for work in other public places around town. Higgins said it came to attract up to 300 men on a weekday morning.
But borough officials said the site became a magnet for illegal employment. Besides, they argued, Consolidated Rail Corp. of Philadelphia did not want workers gathering so close to the railroad tracks because they worried about liability issues.
David C. Ziccardi, an attorney representing Conrail, notified the borough in April 2004 that an 1856 deed proved most of the land was indeed owned by the railroad. Ziccardi also apparently produced a photo of men sitting on the tracks.
In March 2004, Thompson, who sits in Trenton, forced the borough to reopen the muster zone on the portion of the site that is publicly owned, a significantly smaller tract along the busy county road.
The borough attempted to keep that from happening, saying it was unsafe to allow people to gather — and trucks to pull over — on such a narrow strip. The judge, however, prohibited any interference.
Since then, two new advocacy groups have joined the lawsuit: Casa Freehold, a group spawned in March 2004 as the day laborers ceremoniously marched from a nearby church that provided them a temporary hiring hall to the newly reopened muster zone, and New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center, a Newark-based nonprofit agency that addresses systemic social and political problems in the state.
The last mediation session was held on Dec. 15, but the parties have stayed in contact with each other and the judge via telephone and e-mail. Levine said the future monitoring of the borough's agreement not to engage in discriminatory law enforcement and the remedies for future violations are among the issues not yet discussed.
Julio Gomez, an attorney representing Appleseed in the mediation, said the parties could reach a partial agreement on the main issues and agree to settle the remainder in court. Or it could become an all-or-nothing scenario, which he said would be disheartening because many issues, he believes, can be resolved.
Marc LeVine, founder of PEOPLE, or Pressing Our Elected Officials to Protect Our Living Environment, believes many residents are frustrated with the mediation because it is a closed process and involves mostly out-of-towners.
"The people who want to know what's going on can't get any information," he said.
200 to 300 laborers
The 2000 census reported that more than 3,000 of the borough's nearly 11,000 residents were Latino, but officials believe the true number is much higher. Frank Argote-Freyre, Monmouth County coordinator for the statewide Latino Leadership Alliance, estimated there are 200 to 300 day laborers, a small part of the Latino population.
Higgins said the borough's "belief is the majority (of the day laborers) are illegal" immigrants, and Argote-Freyre said he does not know the citizenship status of the laborers.
"The federal government has refused to attack this (citizenship) issue, but, while they are in our communities, we have to be civil," said Argote-Freyre, whose group is not part of the lawsuit, although some members are. "And that's been our problem with the borough."
As the mediation goes on, controversy continues to brew between those on each side of the issue.
"Some people thought the lawsuit would solve everything, and it did not happen," said Mahonrry Hidalgo, a volunteer with various groups that aid the borough's Latino community.
PEOPLE has blamed day laborers and illegal immigrants for issues such as overcrowded housing, loitering and excessive noise, and for driving out long-rooted families, including some of his group's leadership. Illegal immigrants also were accused of driving up taxes by sending their children to the overburdened public school district.
"There's a strain on services offered in this small town," he said. "That's the crux of this, and they don't want to see it."
PEOPLE chairwoman Gail Trojan said she anticipates such issues will worsen this summer, as the warm weather attracts more illegal workers.
Intimidation alleged
The conflict between the two sides has also been central in another legal case, which landed in Municipal Court last month.
The attorney for borough resident Felix Pacheco argued that Pacheco was unfairly charged with trespassing while he stood outside the Main Street bus station, drinking coffee he had purchased in the station's convenience store.
Latino activists charged that Pacheco's arrest was meant to intimidate day laborers — who fanned out to other parts of town after the size of the muster zone shrunk — and discourage them from gathering in public places.
According to the police report, Patrolman Duane Stasse told between 20 and 25 men to clear the bus station's parking lot at 6:55 a.m. on June 29, 2004. When he returned a half-hour later, Stasse noticed that Pacheco, 39, was back in the same spot. Pacheco tried to walk away when he saw the patrol car approach the area, but Stasse ordered him to stop, and he was arrested without incident.
"He had a legitimate reason for being there," said Appleseed attorney Gomez, who is also Pacheco's attorney. "He was buying coffee."
Capt. Michael DiAiso, a spokesman for the borough Police Department, said bus station owner Ketankumar Shah had asked the department to remove loiterers and trespassers from his property.
Advocates for Latino laborers, Freehold officials seek accord
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/18/05
BY JOSEPH SAPIA
AND NINA RIZZO
FREEHOLD BUREAU
FREEHOLD — Mediation in a case centering on the borough's treatment of Latino immigrants who come here to find work has reached "fish-or-cut-bait" time, according to the court-appointed mediator.
Retired state Supreme Court Justice Daniel J. O'Hern, who practices law in Red Bank, said talks between proponents of day laborers and the borough should wrap up this month, a year after a federal judge ordered the discussions.
At that point, either the sides will have reached an agreement on the major sticking points or the case will be sent back to U.S. District Court Judge Anne E. Thompson for litigation.
The case illustrates the tension between borough officials and Latino residents, particularly day laborers, and its outcome could determine whether those laborers will have a sanctioned place to look for employment.
"There is a need for our residents to have a place that is safe and convenient for all to use," Alejandro Abarca, a Mexican immigrant and coordinator of Casa Freehold, said in a news release. "After all, they also have an American dream of working and putting food on the table."
Legal proceedings began in December 2003, when groups representing the day laborers sued the borough for shutting down a formal muster zone between the railroad tracks and Throckmorton Street, near Rhea Street, as of Jan. 1, 2004.
Three advocacy groups and six day laborers filed the class-action lawsuit, alleging that the borough embarked on a "deliberate and coordinated campaign to harass Latino day workers" at the open-air labor market.
"I would say extensive progress has been made by the parties in addressing a number of the issues prompted by the federal court suit," O'Hern said, declining to be more specific.
Alan Levine, special counsel for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, a plaintiff, said "a great deal of progress" has been made regarding complaints about discriminatory law enforcement and housing inspections.
But the actual muster zone remains a sticking point.
"The muster zone is, obviously, the biggest single issue that parties are unable to reach an agreement on," O'Hern said.
Borough officials said they created the zone more than five years ago to prevent day laborers from waiting for work in other public places around town. Higgins said it came to attract up to 300 men on a weekday morning.
But borough officials said the site became a magnet for illegal employment. Besides, they argued, Consolidated Rail Corp. of Philadelphia did not want workers gathering so close to the railroad tracks because they worried about liability issues.
David C. Ziccardi, an attorney representing Conrail, notified the borough in April 2004 that an 1856 deed proved most of the land was indeed owned by the railroad. Ziccardi also apparently produced a photo of men sitting on the tracks.
In March 2004, Thompson, who sits in Trenton, forced the borough to reopen the muster zone on the portion of the site that is publicly owned, a significantly smaller tract along the busy county road.
The borough attempted to keep that from happening, saying it was unsafe to allow people to gather — and trucks to pull over — on such a narrow strip. The judge, however, prohibited any interference.
Since then, two new advocacy groups have joined the lawsuit: Casa Freehold, a group spawned in March 2004 as the day laborers ceremoniously marched from a nearby church that provided them a temporary hiring hall to the newly reopened muster zone, and New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center, a Newark-based nonprofit agency that addresses systemic social and political problems in the state.
The last mediation session was held on Dec. 15, but the parties have stayed in contact with each other and the judge via telephone and e-mail. Levine said the future monitoring of the borough's agreement not to engage in discriminatory law enforcement and the remedies for future violations are among the issues not yet discussed.
Julio Gomez, an attorney representing Appleseed in the mediation, said the parties could reach a partial agreement on the main issues and agree to settle the remainder in court. Or it could become an all-or-nothing scenario, which he said would be disheartening because many issues, he believes, can be resolved.
Marc LeVine, founder of PEOPLE, or Pressing Our Elected Officials to Protect Our Living Environment, believes many residents are frustrated with the mediation because it is a closed process and involves mostly out-of-towners.
"The people who want to know what's going on can't get any information," he said.
200 to 300 laborers
The 2000 census reported that more than 3,000 of the borough's nearly 11,000 residents were Latino, but officials believe the true number is much higher. Frank Argote-Freyre, Monmouth County coordinator for the statewide Latino Leadership Alliance, estimated there are 200 to 300 day laborers, a small part of the Latino population.
Higgins said the borough's "belief is the majority (of the day laborers) are illegal" immigrants, and Argote-Freyre said he does not know the citizenship status of the laborers.
"The federal government has refused to attack this (citizenship) issue, but, while they are in our communities, we have to be civil," said Argote-Freyre, whose group is not part of the lawsuit, although some members are. "And that's been our problem with the borough."
As the mediation goes on, controversy continues to brew between those on each side of the issue.
"Some people thought the lawsuit would solve everything, and it did not happen," said Mahonrry Hidalgo, a volunteer with various groups that aid the borough's Latino community.
PEOPLE has blamed day laborers and illegal immigrants for issues such as overcrowded housing, loitering and excessive noise, and for driving out long-rooted families, including some of his group's leadership. Illegal immigrants also were accused of driving up taxes by sending their children to the overburdened public school district.
"There's a strain on services offered in this small town," he said. "That's the crux of this, and they don't want to see it."
PEOPLE chairwoman Gail Trojan said she anticipates such issues will worsen this summer, as the warm weather attracts more illegal workers.
Intimidation alleged
The conflict between the two sides has also been central in another legal case, which landed in Municipal Court last month.
The attorney for borough resident Felix Pacheco argued that Pacheco was unfairly charged with trespassing while he stood outside the Main Street bus station, drinking coffee he had purchased in the station's convenience store.
Latino activists charged that Pacheco's arrest was meant to intimidate day laborers — who fanned out to other parts of town after the size of the muster zone shrunk — and discourage them from gathering in public places.
According to the police report, Patrolman Duane Stasse told between 20 and 25 men to clear the bus station's parking lot at 6:55 a.m. on June 29, 2004. When he returned a half-hour later, Stasse noticed that Pacheco, 39, was back in the same spot. Pacheco tried to walk away when he saw the patrol car approach the area, but Stasse ordered him to stop, and he was arrested without incident.
"He had a legitimate reason for being there," said Appleseed attorney Gomez, who is also Pacheco's attorney. "He was buying coffee."
Capt. Michael DiAiso, a spokesman for the borough Police Department, said bus station owner Ketankumar Shah had asked the department to remove loiterers and trespassers from his property.