Houston funds day labor sites

Yesterday's Chronicle had a story that just boggles the mind:

Yupe, a volunteer at the nearby Our Lady of Guadalupe church, makes it sound simple. But if she and the organizers behind the East End Worker Development Center manage to get their facility off the ground, leaders say, it will be one of the first day-labor sites in the city to actually work.

Despite annual funding from the city of at least $100,000, day-labor centers have had a troubled history in Houston.

[snip]

"We feel very good about what's happening there," said Richard Cantu, head of the mayor's office on citizens services.

The city has pledged $90,000 annually to fund the East End center, in addition to the $100,000 already spent on the Oscar Romero site.

Of course, this relates to priorities:

By year's end, the Houston Police Department will have lost an estimated 740 officers — as many as the city of Orlando employs — to retirement in a two-year period.

For comparison purposes, in 2003 the department lost 138 officers through retirement, resignation, termination or death.

And there may not be enough money available in the next two fiscal years to train replacements for even half the officers the department is losing. Or to hire the 1,000-plus civilians the department is missing.

$100,000 here; $90,000 there. But even if we don't have enough police officers, at least we'll have some city-funded day-labor sites.

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 05/30/05 12:55 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Sphere | Comments (4)

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