The Los Angeles City Council has approved $2.3 million to fund a pilot program focused on sidewalk repair and workforce training in the northeast San Fernando Valley. The funding aims to improve aging infrastructure and create new job opportunities for local residents.
In a unanimous 13-0 vote on Tuesday, the City Council authorized the Economic and Workforce Development Department to enter into a contract with Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 300. The labor union will lead the pilot program. Council members Ysabel Juardo and Bob Blumenfield were not present for the vote.
The initiative was introduced on February 18 by Councilmembers Monica Rodriguez and Imelda Padilla. The pilot will operate in District 7, represented by Rodriguez, which includes Pacoima, Sylmar, Mission Hills, Lake View Terrace, La Tuna Canyon, Sunland-Tujunga, North Hills, and Shadow Hills.
“… The economic opportunities that we’ll be providing (include) job training for a number of individuals,” Rodriguez said. “I hope it then becomes a model of something that we can help introduce and launch citywide.”
Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson added that the program could help many Angelenos begin long-term careers.
LIUNA Local 300 has experience in concrete work, asphalt paving, demolition, curb and gutter repair, and more. The Southern California Laborers Training School, affiliated with the union, is currently the only training center responsible for preparing workers for sidewalk construction.
“This is work and a concept that is basically seven years in the making,” Rodriguez said Tuesday.
Rodriguez shared that she began conversations with LIUNA Local 300 back in 2017, shortly after taking office, with the goal of creating job training programs and fixing the region’s aging sidewalks.
