Arlington County Board Member J. Walter Tejada's work with the Shirlington Employment and Education Center was highlighted in an article titled 'Counties Help Day Laborers Find Work, Ease Tensions' in County News, the newspaper of the National Association of Counties. Said Tejada, “I think that [the day-laborer issue] is one of those ultimate tests for localities to really state whether they are indeed a caring and welcoming community, where everyone is important. We didn’t have all the answers when we set out to do this and we have to constantly check ourselves, but what we see from the indications that we have now is that what we’re doing is working.”
Tejada said of the day-laborer issue, “No matter what we thought, we could not ignore a community issue that was very real and happening. Either we take an antagonistic approach, or we find ways that we can constructively resolve the situation.” He pointed out that an often-ignored component of the day-laborer issue is the fact that those seeking daily employment often have children in county schools and spouses and family members working in the community as well.
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