BY DAVID GRANT LONG

Sometimes, as an Ernest Hemmingway character observed, a clean, well-lighted place is the most important thing a person requires.

For Cortez area day-laborers, some of whom have no permanent homes and others who live far away from town, add a telephone and a bathroom (plus coffee and donuts) and this goes double.

Since the Colorado Job Service moved its office recently from the Montezuma County Annex to the former Greeley Gas headquarters on Main Street, people seeking spot-labor opportunities no longer have a place to wait for jobs to come in, Fred Thomas said yesterday.

So Thomas decided to create one for them next to his engineering offices at 432 N. Broadway.

At the Annex would-be casual laborers could wait in the hallway just outside Job Service or, in good weather, outside the Annex until work materialized; however, the lease at the new location prohibits people from hanging out on the sidewalk, and no waiting area is provided inside.

Instead, applicants are now supposed register at the employment office and leave a phone number where they can be reached for work, Thomas explained, but for many this was unrealistic.

"I guess they figure that everyone who needs a job has a telephone and can sit and wait for it to ring," Thomas said yesterday, "but this (policy) certainly doesn’t serve people without a phone."

"Right now we’re feeling our way," he added, gesturing to the on-going remodeling work. "This just started Monday."

Even so, some jobs have already been lined up, including a request for five workers to unload a truck early next week.

And while demand for short-term labor is fairly limited during the winter, he explained, it can result in as many as two dozen jobs daily during the summer months.

Thomas’s ultimate goal is to have people who need day laborers to contact his office directly by calling 565-1941 or going there in person.

"I’m hoping this article will alert potential employers to just stop by if they have a need," he said, "and not even mess with Job Service."

The temporary-employment office currently opens at 8 a.m., the same time as Job Service, but will start at 7 a.m. once the weather turns nicer.