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Herndon council votes to keep day laborer site open
In a complex effort to both maintain the legality of its anti-solicitation ordinance and simultaneously establish worker eligibility requirements at the Herndon Official Workers Center, the Town of Herndon itself has become the applicant in the renewal of a permit required to operate the controversial center.
At the same time, Herndon Mayor Steve DeBenedittis is trying to reinstate county funding for the site that was recently terminated, and attempting to smooth things over with Reston Interfaith, the center's current managers.
After a lengthy public hearing that spanned two nights, the Herndon Town council voted 6-1,with Harlon Reece dissenting, to let Reston Interfaith continue its management until another operator, who will check for legal presence, can be found. Over sixty citizens and other concerned parties gave impassioned testimony on both sides of the issue.
At an Aug. 8 work session,acting Director of Community Development Lisa Gilleran briefed the Herndon Town Council on the details and particulars of the resolution that outlines the new arrangement.
She gave a less detailed outline of the resolution again on Tuesday evening.
The current special exception permit was issued on Sept. 15, 2005 to the site's current managers, Reston Interfaith. It expires on Sept. 15 of this year. Reston Interfaith does not, and will not, verify workers' legality to work in the United States.
"This is a one-year extension and the town is the applicant," Gilleran told the council at the work session. "The purpose of this application is to continue to have a temporary assembly site for day workers but it anticipates a change in the provider of the services."
Because a new operator who would be willing to check for worker eligibility has not yet been nailed down, and is unlikely to be in place by the Sept. 15 expiration of the current permit, the resolution allows Reston Interfaith to continue its current management under a separate, more confining set of conditions.
Also implemented in the renewal was a ban on the distribution of food and clothing at the site.
The resolution includes two sets of conditions. One for 'Operator A,' which is simply an extension of the operation that is currently on the site--minus the distribution of provisions--and then the second set of conditions, "to introduce a new operator who would operate the site but would be verifying the employment status, work status or eligibility, of the individuals utilizing the site for employment," Gilleran said at the more detailed work session.
Because Fairfax County announced last week that it will be terminating its annual $175,000 funding for Reston Interfaith's management of the center, CEO Kerrie Wilson said she was not certain that her organization can continue past Sept. 6., the date the county has said it will pull its funding.
On Friday, Aug. 10, Herndon Mayor Steve DeBenedittis wrote a letter to Fairfax County officials asking them to reinstate funding for HOW Center managers Reston Interfaith, "on an interim, month-to-month basis."
A meeting between DeBenedittis, Dranesville District Supervisor Joan DuBois (R), county Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly (D), County Executive Anthony Griffin and acting Town Manager Art Anselene has been tentatively set for Wednesday, Aug. 22.
"The town would like Reston Interfaith to continue the current operations and assist in the future smooth transition of the center to another operator," wrote DeBenedittis in an August 13 letter to Wilson. However, the mayor's request that Reston Interfaith "continue to operate the site on an interim basis," was met with some resistance by Wilson.
"We would consider continued operations if the town council recommends a full-year renewal of our application, on a non-competitive basis, should funding be restored," she stated in a reply letter.
Herndon resident Dennis "Butch" Baughan was the only applicant in the town's third request for proposals for a private operator who would check for worker eligibility.
A committee was scheduled to present Baughan's proposal at the Aug. 14 Town Council meeting, but town spokeswoman Anne Curtis said Friday that the presentation had been indefinitely postponed.
Vice Mayor Dennis Husch has said publicly that "the single bidder on the last request for proposal is working with the Town staff and has been given 60 days to acquire sufficient funding to operate the site."
Under the new special exception,the town can now step in and run the site itself should negotiations with Reston Interfaith turn south.
Contact the reporter at gmacdonald@timespapers.com
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