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Residents and workforce advocates press Huntington Park to award landscape contract to local social-enterprise
Summary
Dozens of residents, trainees and community leaders urged the council to pick SLA for the city's landscape-maintenance contract, citing local hiring, apprenticeship pipelines into unions and school greening projects; incumbent Northstar Landcare thanked the city for the opportunity.
Speakers at the Huntington Park City Council meeting urged the council to award the city's landscape maintenance contract to a local social-enterprise, Sustainable Landscape Alliance (SLA), saying the firm trains local residents and places graduates into union careers.
Jesse Salazar, director of operations for SLA, described the company as "more than a landscape company" because its workforce-development arm enrolls local residents and helps graduates enter union jobs. "By year 3, the goal is to have 100% of the workforce be from Huntington Park," Salazar said during public comment.
Several former trainees and community members echoed that message. Alexander Ruelas, a Cal Poly Pomona graduate who works with SLA's design group, told the council SLA engages students and designs green schoolyards and public spaces. Cuauhtemoc Hernandez, who said he grew up in Huntington Park and now works for SLA, said hiring locally and training residents created "full circle" benefits for neighborhoods where crews work.
Community speakers also pointed to partnerships and past projects: SLA has worked with TreePeople on tree plantings and is active in school greening projects, speakers said. Jesse Salazar said SLA has placed more than 100 people from Southeast Los Angeles into unions and maintains MOUs with local unions to create pathways to stable employment.
Jessica Alvarez, director of administration for Northstar Landcare (the city's incumbent contractor), spoke after SLA supporters. Alvarez thanked the council and said Northstar had the privilege of maintaining Huntington Park's medians, parks and open spaces in recent years and appreciated the opportunity to serve the city.
Supporters asked the council to view the bid as an investment in local jobs and apprenticeships rather than solely a procurement exercise. They described SLA's work as combining services (tree planting, green infrastructure and maintenance) with on-the-job training and union placement for graduates.
Council members and staff did not take a contract vote during the public-comment portion of the meeting; the item remained on the agenda for later action. Community speakers asked the city to prioritize local hiring commitments and to require program reporting if SLA or another social-enterprise receives the contract.
