Steamboat Pilot & Today

Someone irritated me enough today to prompt a bold statement that should garner a few calls: Steamboat Springs needs a good dose of illegal immigrants.

While covering a story this morning, one of my "sources" said I should do a story on the "Mexicans" that were coming in and underbidding his construction jobs.

I asked him, "Where were they,?" since I really could have used a few to help build my house.

"They're hiding. They don't come out like you and me," he responded.

The worker and his friend told me a few places to look that sounded like construction sites. They also mentioned a pond. Maybe I'll check it out later.

In the meantime, it's no big secret that Steamboat Springs has a problem with finding enough workers to fill jobs. And I can count numerous times that people, connected to the construction industry, have complained about the "quality" of labor, and/or the lack thereof.

One big gripe by anyone building these days is the way workers have no problem jumping off one job before it's finished and into another. I'm sure it's not that uncommon in the construction industry, but it has reached troubling proportions in some places.

That was confirmed by my new friend this morning when I complained about people not finishing their jobs.

"Man, they gotta go where the most money is. If there's a better job somewhere else, framers gotta go," he told me.

Hmmm I was taught to always finish the job that I started.

You've got to wonder what is going to happen to these people if the economy slows and building stops. What's going to happen to these people who are running around doing halfway jobs? Do they know what a reputation means?

So back to my original proposal of promoting illegal immigration to Steamboat.

So I asked my new friend if the reason he wasn't working this morning was because of those "Mexicans" taking his job.

Ah no, he told me. "I make good money so I can work when I want." He told me he was waiting on a particular job.

Okay. So he's making good money and can pick his hours.

"But I thought you told me the 'Mexicans' were taking your jobs," I asked him.

I then asked him about illegals from Europe and other continents. I assured him there were bound to be a few of those in town.

No answer. And we all know why.