Projects

Graton: A Case Study of Consensus Building around Day Labor Issues

Graton Project Agreements

Graton Project Final Evaluation Report

Graton, California is a tiny town of approximately 2000 residents in west Sonoma County. It has a long history of day laborer presence even before the railroad was built in 1906. Long-term residents can recall Graton as a gathering place for Chinese day laborers in the early decades of the twentieth century, followed by migrant workers from Oklahoma in the 1930's. Over the past few decades, the day labor population has been primarily from Mexico. Graton evolved from a railroad town, to a cannery town to nearly a ghost town in the span of a century and then in the last decade went through a dramatic transformation as the abandoned storefronts and bars became restaurants, an art gallery, an emporium and a wine tasting room.

And it is over this last decade that the congregation of laborers downtown has caused an increasing sense of discomfort for many of the residents and members of the growing business community. Their concerns ranged from traffic to trash to personal safety to contamination of the local creek. Inconsistent work opportunities and the cost of housing made the situation worse for the day labor population, encouraging crowded or substandard housing conditions as well as seasonal homelessness. After several years of ad hoc community efforts to address some of these issues, the Centro Laboral de Graton (CLG) a non-profit organization, was founded in late 2000 to develop a "just and effective solution" that would lead to the establishment of a labor center in Graton "where laborers can find work in a just and dignified manner." A major fundraising campaign was launched to achieve this goal.

In the fall of 2002 Centro Laboral de Graton proposed the establishment of a day labor center near downtown Graton that would include a lounge, laundry, bathrooms, showers, lockers, English classes, medical and legal clinics and job training. Although, the concept of a hiring hall was supported by most of the community, the scope of the proposed center was not. And many members of the community felt that their concerns regarding the impact of day labor issues on the local community were not being heard. A petition that was circulated within the community garnered 425 signatures. The petition asked that Centro Laboral de Graton revisit their proposal. Those who signed wanted to see expanded community dialogue and the implementation of a forum for public feedback. Many Graton residents feared that a center with services would bring more day laborers to Graton and increase contamination of the creek. They also wanted to see an anti-solicitation ordinance in place when the center opened.

At this point of polarization, the North Bay Consensus Council (NBCC) was contacted by Centro Laboral de Graton. A meeting comprised of residents, business owners and board members of CLG was scheduled and the NBCC was invited to explore the possibility of working together on this issue. That meeting was in November of 2002. In October of 2003 an agreement was reached on recommendations for the development of a day labor center.

During December and January the NBCC interviewed approximately 50 stakeholders. An organizing and informational meeting was held in February of 2003 to provide those interviewed with the results of the Council's assessment process and to select a representative stakeholder team (RST) to participate in the consensus building process. The RST was a group of 20 people representing business, residents, day laborers, board members of CLG, environmentalists, county government and members of the school district and community club. Between the beginning of March and the end of October a series of consensus building meetings were convened. The larger community was brought into the discussion through two community meetings. All meetings were conducted in both Spanish and English and all materials were translated into Spanish.

Some key provisions of the agreed upon recommendations are: (Click here for the full set of recommendations.):

• Creating one hiring location that is on the main corridor but not on the main drag or adjacent to the creek or a residential area. (Site still to be determined.)
• Employing a staff person who will manage the center and act as a liaison with the community.
• Reducing camping in the highly sensitive areas of the riparian corridor.
• Increasing compliance with rules in the less sensitive areas of the riparian corridor.
• Increasing work opportunities for day laborers.
• Educating workers about community standards in an effort to reduce trash and improve public behavior.
• Implementing a formal evaluation process to measure the effectiveness of the day labor center.

A representative community implementation committee has been formed that will work closely with Centro Laboral de Graton during the next steps of the process which includes securing a site, applying for a land use permit once a site has been obtained, involving employers, and keeping the community informed on their progress. The NBCC will continue to work with the Graton community in a monitoring capacity.

What does it take for a community to create a shared vision of the future? It takes the hard work, commitment, open heart, deep listening and creativity that were demonstrated by the Graton representative stakeholder team. It has been suggested by Bill Potapchuk of the Community Building Institute that in participatory processes there should be a triple bottom line: inclusive (of stakeholders), effective (achieve clear outcomes) and collaborative (good process). It looks like the community of Graton is well on its way to meeting its bottom line.

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