EDITORIAL:Leaders keep job center open

Last month we challenged our political leaders to find some way to keep the Luis M. Ochoa Job Center open after Orange County supervisors cut funding for it. We’re pleased to see that Huntington Beach and Coastline Community College District leaders stepped up and met that challenge.

The county supervisors decided they didn’t want to finance the job center as part of its employment program because they wanted the money to go to regional facilities. The vote took city officials by surprise, and they were left scrambling for a solution. If they hadn’t come through, the job center would have closed on Friday.

Fortunately, city officials figured they did not need the county to contract the program through the Coastline Community College District to run the program. Instead, the city could just hire the district to operate the job center.

While that may sound like common sense, remember we’re talking about bureaucracies, and many legalities had to be ironed out to make sure this arrangement was kosher.

City officials reported that job seekers passed through the center 9,864 times last year. Of those, 59% found a job the day they walked in.

It’s obviously a valuable resource to many, and we’re pleased to see city and college district officials recognized that. It’s especially heartening to see that it appears this new arrangement is a long-term solution and that city and district officials appear committed to making it work.

“The center serves a great purpose both for those that use it as workers and those that use it as a resource to get labor,” Councilman Keith Bohr said.

Well put, councilman.