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December 19, 2007
As the holidays approach and dire economic forecasts linger, a recent federal appropriations bill that cuts 43 "low priority" programs has the Mother Lode Job Training Center wary of the potential catastrophe it could cause the four counties it serves.
With the president vetoing a resolution that would have restored some of those programs and Congress unable to override the veto, One Stop Manager Karen Glaze said her center is operating on the little that's left over from last year's appropriation funds.
"We have had a budget cut every year since the 9/11 tragedy," she said, "with a double hit as the cost of business goes up, but the budget goes down."
The training center is the local Jackson branch of a regional job connection program, offering employment seekers free services like Internet access, registration and enrollment into the California Job Service, workshops, job listings and brochures on other community resources. Glaze explained that the center is a consortium of Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa counties run by California Job Connection. The center was founded with a Joint Powers Authority authorized by the Amador County Board of Supervisors in 1983.
"We run two parallel activities," Glaze said, "one being the self-help, one-stop agency and the other the Mother Lode Job Training where Congress appropriates funds to the governor for us to serve adults, dislocated workers and youth."
Glaze added that her annual budget is about $275,000, 50 percent of which goes toward operational costs, leaving very little for services such as training.
"This year our goal is to serve 35 adults and about 30 youth," she said, a somewhat realistic goal considering her budget. But that target may be harder to achieve with the recent loss of a part time Employment Development Department employee whose position, because of additional funding cuts, won't be backfilled, Glaze explained.
That hasn't stopped the job seekers from coming, however.
"It's great to be able to come to the job center and see who is hiring," said Debbie Carson, a job seeker and Amador County resident. "It's just that with little education and very few skills there isn't a lot available for me that isn't minimum wage."
A high school graduate, Carson said the absence of a nearby community college contributed to her decision not to pursue her education. "It seemed impossible at the time to try and hold down a job and commute into Sacramento or Stockton to take classes," she said. "It was just too overwhelming."
The lack of local opportunities have put the squeeze on Trevor Howard as well. Frustrated by the absence of well-paying jobs, the 23-year-old Pioneer resident is on his way to Sacramento, where he hopes to ply his learned trade of brick masonry.
"There isn't anything here for me," Howard said. "This is becoming a county for the retired. No growth, no jobs, and if there are any (jobs), they don't pay well enough."
Howard said he has utilized the job training center without success. "They can't give you what isn't here," he said.
According to a working paper on the local economy, the largest employment sector in the county is the retail trade, with 1,804 employed as of 2006. Retail has been the leading employer in the county since 1990, edging out manufacturing jobs, which have declined by 25 percent in the last decade. The paper, which was prepared as part of the county's general plan advisory process, states that across the board, the county underperforms in terms of average annual industry wages, which indicates that higher salaries can be found for the same type of work in other labor markets. This, the paper says, could be contributing to the county's loss of 18- to 24-year-olds.
From a labor perspective, this population is typically expected to backfill older residents as they retire, but this hasn't happened for a number of reasons, according to the paper. The general economic downturn and lack of a high school education among a significant portion of residents in the unincorporated parts of the county have contributed to a county unemployment rate that's higher than it was in 2000. Carson agreed that more local education options and job opportunities that can pay a sustainable wage would help, but is skeptical that will happen.
"So many (people) want to block progress in our county, but they don't realize that, in turn, they are killing off our population," she said. "My children will not live like I do. I want them to have the best and if the best means leaving here, then so be it."
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