Sparsely, Sage and Timely
The evolution of a news story
By David V. Mitchell
With the employment situation in flux around the Bay Area, California, and the nation, last week I assigned reporter Andrea Blum to conduct a spot check of West Marin businesses and find out what the situation is here.
Two years ago, some businesses in West Marin told The Light they were having to cut back on the number of hours – or even the number of days – they were open because they couldn’t find enough workers. Last week, however, businesses here sounded less desperate. Even though many long-time workers had moved away because of West Marin’s skyrocketing housing costs, their positions had often been filled by Latinos. Some of thethem live with family members who work and live on local ranches, employers said, while many commute from as far away as Rohnert Park and Petaluma.
Anyone who lives in West Marin has seen, the number of Latinos working here has increased markedly in the past decade, but until Blum started calling businesses, we didn’t realize how many merchants feel that without their Latino workers, they probably couldn’t stay in business.
Even more striking was the fact that one merchant after another pointed out that Latino portion of the West Marin workforce is especially important many Latinos here hold more than one job.
The merchants’ comments gave a new focus to what had started out to be a standard financial story on the overall employment. They made it clear that any discussion of employment in West Marin now means discussing the role of Latinos.
Blum interviewed Tomales Bay State Park ranger Carlos Porrata and his wife Rebecca, a public health nurse, who both pointed out that many of the jobs other Latinos have are low paying. But they also noted that some Latinos here are starting their own businesses or getting (better-paying) jobs in government agencies.
The Porratas also said that despite the intention of Latinos coming here, fewer return to the Old Country than thought they would when they arrived. The key to success here, the couple said, is getting an education and learning English.
Beyond that, restaurateur Pat Healy, who employs several Latinos that commute from Sonoma County to work in the Station House Café, said there are more people looking for work now than in previous months.
Reader reaction to the story was almost universally positive. The College of Marin was inspired to call and talk about creating advanced English classes here geared to preparing Spanish-speaking students for trade schools or college.
Retired congressional aide Bill Duddleson, who had played a major role in the creation of the Point Reyes National Seashore, wrote to compliment Blum’s article. Several Latinos complimented it, including one who disagreed with another Latino quoted in the article.
However, Blum and I, her editor, were also blindsided by Point Reyes Station resident who apparently missed the fact – even though it was stated in the first sentence – that this was a story about what a spot check of West Marin employment turned up.
In an absurd attempt to be politically correct, the reader wrote, "Many people in this community think about Latino people only in terms of their roles as workers. Such a limited and essentially racist viewpoint is not expanded by an article that focuses on how good a job Latinos do of serving local businesses. Our very segregated community would be better served by articles that help us see each other in ways that we had not previously considered."
However, most of us gringos in West Marin don’t feel as segregated from Latinos as the reader does. In fact, the mother of a Latino family, who are my houseguests this fall, not only found the story worthwhile, she was boggled by the reader’s criticism.