Labor Site Backlash Felt at Polls In Herndon

Judith M. Markbein, 59, a second grade teacher, said she voted the incumbents out because "when we put money into a day-labor site, we are putting money into people who are illegal. I'm not trying to be prejudiced, but when people are given rights that they haven't earned, it makes me angry."

The challengers attributed their victories not to hatred, but to the council's falling out of touch with voters.

"It's a new direction for Herndon," said Waddell, a systems engineer. "We've got a new slate. We've got a new council. We've got a new mayor. We are going to try to be responsive to the people. That was lost on the council."

Waddell said he favors moving the center to a commercial area and will try to tap private funds for its operation. It now operates in part on a grant from Fairfax County.

"You've got day laborers cutting between yards to get to the center," he said. "I've talked to residents who said they have been awakened at 6 in the morning by laborers sitting on their lawn furniture in the back yard because they are waiting for the center to open. That's not good for the neighborhood."

Hutchinson, who was on the council previously, said the panel ignored the feelings of the community. "I do think the voters have spoken," she said. "I don't know where we go from here."

The center has another year to go on a conditional use permit, and the new council can use that time to seek alternatives, she said. Hutchinson said she also favors moving the center to another area.

Former mayor Richard C. Thoesen, a backer of the center, said he attributed the results to voter frustration over the town's burgeoning immigrant population, which has led to serious residential crowding. He added that Monday's nationwide demonstrations organized by immigrants' rights groups constituted "bad timing" that may have added to the backlash.

He cautioned the new mayor and council to do what they can to reunite the town. "The fallout for Herndon could be devastating if they don't handle this well," he said.

Last year, the Minuteman group, a chapter of an Arizona-based national organization that fights illegal immigration, began appearing at the 7-Eleven. They photographed employers and workers and turned over the evidence to state agencies as well as the Internal Revenue Service.

The Minutemen also have shown up at the new day-labor site, leading to confrontations between supporters and opponents. George Taplin, leader of the local Minuteman group, said the goal is to rid Herndon of illegal immigrants.

Last summer, Herndon Town Hall was forced to unplug its phone lines after listeners of a talk show on WMAL (630 AM) flooded the switchboard with what officials said were hate calls against the day-labor site.

Town officials say it has operated smoothly since its contentious launch in December. With milder spring weather, work has become more plentiful. Bill Threlkeld of Project Hope and Harmony, which operates the center for Reston Interfaith Inc., a nonprofit group that has received a grant from Fairfax County, said recently that about half of the 100 or so workers who come out in the morning find employment.

Reece said the national debate took over a local dispute. "The immigration issue has become such an issue nationally that it affected the local election," he said.

Reece said he could favor moving the center, but he said it will be difficult: "I just don't want to see it closed. I don't want us to go back to the unregulated, chaotic situation like we had before."

Staff writer Candace Rondeaux contributed to this report.