‘Bad Day’ for Immigrants : Dayworker Law Snares Man Moving His Family

It was supposed to be moving day for Andrew Krzeczkowski, a Polish emigre who, with his wife and teen-age daughter, is leaving Costa Mesa for a more spacious home in Laguna Hills.

But what started out as a day of cheer and hope quickly turned into what Krzeczkowski calls his “worst day in California.”

While trying to find someone to help move his furniture, Krzeczkowski said, he was arrested early Thursday under Costa Mesa’s controversial ordinance that prohibits hiring dayworkers on city streets.

“Since I have been in this country, I have never had any problems with the police, so it made me feel very bad,” Krzeczkowski said in a telephone interview Friday. “For the entire family it was a very bad day.”

Besides Krzeczkowski, 15 dayworkers and one other would-be employer were arrested for allegedly soliciting work or workers.

And on Friday, police arrested Andrado Cruz, 42, of Costa Mesa, on suspicion of “intending” to solicit employment, an even more disputed provision of the dayworker measure that has prompted a court challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ordinance is intended to prevent large gatherings of dayworkers--most of whom are Latino, many here illegally--from congregating on city street corners. Adopted in 1988, it was passed in response to complaints from residents and merchants, who assert that the workers increase traffic congestion and harass passers-by.

Critics, however, argue that the measure is vague, unconstitutional and singles out a group of workers who have little political clout and few resources to defend themselves.

Cruz was the first person to be charged with “intending” to solicit work. Costa Mesa Police Lt. Alan Kent said Cruz acted as a broker and tried to secure employment for a number of dayworkers with contractors.

Kent said the arrest was based on observations and evidence collected Monday and Thursday at the park.

“The elements for the arrest under the intent portion of the ordinance were from personal observations, conversations he had with plainclothes officers, films that we had and his gestures,” Kent said. “We were able to arrest under the ordinance because of his mere presence today.”

The ACLU filed suit against the city this week but on Wednesday lost a court bid to block enforcement of the intent-to-solicit portion. A Superior Court commissioner, however, agreed to hear arguments next month on whether the provision is constitutional.

For Krzeczkowski, a 38-year-old painter and handyman in the United States for only five years, his arrest was a sad and confusing episode.

Krzeczkowski, a former mechanic from the village of Wileczki, near Krakow, and his family fled from their native Poland as political refugees, enduring 11 months in a Austrian refugee camp before coming to the United States.

He came to California, he said, because his friends told him the weather was always warm. And for the most part, all of his perceptions, his beliefs about America--about its openness and freedom--have proved true, he said.

But the family still has few friends. So when moving day arrived, Krzeczkowski said, he decided to go to nearby Lion’s Park--where he had often seen men holding up signs offering cheap labor--and hire help to move the family’s larger pieces of furniture.

“I feel very sorry that this happened,” he said. “I didn’t know you couldn’t hire someone if they are here legally. I am still adjusting to the laws and figuring out what I can and cannot do.”

Read About Controversy

He said he had read about the controversy over the city’s dayworker ordinance.

He even noticed the police car as he drove his van near the park Thursday morning, he said.

But Krzeczkowski said he did not intend to break any laws.

“I drove by and asked (the two men) ‘Do you have green cards?’ and they said ‘Yes’ and I asked if they are legal and they said ‘Yes.’ I didn’t hire them to do work but to help me move,” he said.

Krzeczkowski said he tried to explain his situation to police officers who apprehended the three men shortly after their encounter.

“But (the officer) said, ‘If you need to hire someone you should go to the employment office,’ ” he said. “I think it was maybe fair to direct me to the employment office, but I don’t think I did a big crime.”

Kent, who is coordinating enforcement of the dayworker ordinance, said Friday that he had not talked to Krzeczkowski.

“But regardless of what his story is, basically what he did was against the law,” Kent said. “The law doesn’t apply only to illegals or to any one race or nationality.”

Krzeczkowski said he is uncertain what will happen now. He was issued a citation and allowed to leave the park with the promise that he would appear in Orange County Municipal Court on Oct. 16.

An arrest under the ordinance is considered an infraction, according to acting City Atty. Eleanor Frey, and carries a maximum penalty of $100 for a first offense. A second offense carries a $500 fine.