Editorial Editorial (October 15, 2004)

Day workers caught in a bind

Whether they like it or not, Mountain View day workers may have competing support centers trying to help them unless a compromise is forged soon.

The competitors are the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which operated the day worker center until mid-September in the Calvary Church at California Street and Escuela Avenue in Mountain View, and a group led by the church pastor, Rev. Jim Stringer, and John Rinaldi, the center's former board chair, who resigned in protest when the Society fired center director Maria Marroquin on Sept. 13.

Since then, a feud has erupted between St. Vincent de Paul officials, who claim they had a valid lease and were illegally locked out from the center's space, and the Calvary Church group led by Rev. Stringer, who has now reinstalled Marroquin and reopened the center without support from St. Vincent de Paul.

But the Society is not giving ground in this case, according to spokesperson Steve Pehanich, who said he is actively looking for a new site for a day worker center, although it could not be open until the end of the year at best. In addition, rent for a new center would be more expensive, and the Society probably would need to spend $15,000 to $20,000 to obtain a conditional use permit from the city of Mountain View, Pehanich said.

In the meantime, the low-grade feud is going on, with the Society turning off the center's phone, and someone else, perhaps a disgruntled worker, locking its garbage container. The Calvary Church faction is apparently refusing to turn over mail to the Society that may include some of the grants it needs to continue to operate.

Both sides in this dispute have strong feelings and Pehanich acknowledged that no talks are taking place and that there is little hope of compromise between the parties.

We understand that the city cannot contribute funds to a center if undocumented workers are involved. But more important now is the need for the city or some other Good Samaritan group or agency to provide mediation to these competing organizations to try and bring them to their senses.

What started out as a petty personnel issue has incredibly become an all-out feud that will do little to advance the cause of day workers in Mountain View. It is time for cooler heads to prevail.

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