2/2/1982 - Laserfiche WebLink

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r� WK 48 F�IF' 821. Administrator Nelson reported that his memo is already out of date because the employment office has closed. Harold LeMieux, manager of the Fort Pierce Unemployment Office, clarified Mr. Nelson's statement, noting that, as a field office manager, he temporarily reassigned two members of the employment staff to handle the Unemployment Claims Office in Vero Beach. The telephone is still working, but when his staff is depleted to the point that it is no longer operational, he considers the office closed and so stated in the newspaper. The doors are still open, however, and will remain open to the end of this month when the Vero office will be completely closed. Discussion followed as to which offices have been closed; why employers are still paying taxes for a service they are not receiving; and how these monies are being used presently. Mr. LeMieux noted that the tax is a federal tax, and the only way you can get additional services for the taxes paid is if the federal government releases those funds to be applied to the various offices around the country. He continued that by law these funds cannot be used for anything except employment security, which includes the United States Employment service as a whole - employment services, unemployment compensation offices, etc. As to which offices have been and will be closed, Mr. LeMieux did not know. He informed the Board that we are in Area 5, which includes offices in Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Belle Glade, Naples, Fort Myers, etc. There are contingency plans based on funding, which he had thought were based on geographical location, but there appears to be a possibility they might extend the area to span 100 miles, which would eliminate Fort Pierce. The Board expressed concern about these funds being used to check on illegal migrant workers rather than being