TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager to contact the Federal Highway Administration to determine how the City and the Port can be given a waiver and allowed to set sufficient local hiring preferences for major construction projects.
DISCUSSION
At 14%, the City of Long Beach currently faces one of the highest rates of unemployment in the state (if not in the U.S.). The need to create jobs is critical in order to put our residents back to work.
To increase the number of Local jobs, the City Council and the Harbor Commissioners have approved the case of project labor agreements ("PLA") which contains among other provisions, a requirement that a certain percentage of the hiring be of Long Beach residents.
Unfortunately, Federal Highway Administration regulations prohibited local hiring preferences. This prohibition needs to be waived, especially in cities such as Long Beach, so that a local construction project can be staffed with unemployed residents who live in the city in which the project is being constructed.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
COUNCILWOMAN GERRIE SCHIPSKE
FIFTH DISTRICT
COUNCILMEMBER O'DONNELL
FOURTH DISTRICT