County Supes Want More Locals Working on County Construction Projects

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Board of Supervisors approved a local worker policy Tuesday that calls for contractors to fill 30 percent of construction jobs on county-controlled projects with local residents and 10 percent of such jobs with workers who face high barriers to employment.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Supervisor Hilda Solis co-authored the motion.

"When we offer these opportunities in the construction trades to local workers and residents facing challenges finding work, we are not just keeping families from falling through the cracks, we are supporting the careers that we need as a region to build new bridges and invest in our collective future," Solis said.

Ridley-Thomas has long championed hiring workers in the community where county projects are being built. However, such programs have historically been instituted on a project-by-project basis.

"Good faith" efforts implemented when rebuilding LAC+USC Medical Center and the emergency room at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center resulted in 10-11 percent of jobs going to local workers.

By contrast, nearly 60 percent of all construction man-hours on the Martin Luther King Jr. inpatient tower were performed by local workers under a mandatory program, according to Ridley-Thomas.

The 10 percent goal for "targeted workers" is aimed at training and employing veterans, former foster youth and residents facing particular hardships, including single parenthood, the lack of a high school diploma, long- term unemployment, homelessness or a criminal history, as well as those living below the federal poverty line or receiving government benefits.

The percentages will be mandatory for county-controlled projects costing $2.5 million or more, while contractors on smaller projects must agree to use their best efforts to hit those goals. Affordable housing projects that receive some county efforts will also be directed to make their best efforts to comply.

— City News Service, photo via Pixabay