Council honors longtime city engineers Ted Allen and Julie Allen at retirement ceremony

The Los Angeles City Council on May 28 recognized the retirement of two long-serving city officials, City Engineer Ted Allen and Julie Allen, assistant director in the Bureau of Sanitation, calling their combined public service more than 64 years.

Councilmember (name given in transcript as) Hernández presented both employees, noting their decades of service and leadership across major capital programs. Hernández described Ted Allen’s 31-year career with the city, his emphasis on staff development and the BuildingLA portal initiative; the transcript attributed stewardship of a capital portfolio described as $5,000,000,000 under his leadership. Hernández credited Julie Allen with a 33-year career, including leadership of major Clean Water and infrastructure projects such as a roughly $100 million lake-ecosystem rehabilitation project and a $587 million Sixth Street Viaduct project referenced in the remarks.

Both honorees spoke briefly. Ted Allen thanked the council and staff for budget and personnel decisions that he said helped preserve jobs and called for continued emphasis on employee development. He said he plans to retire to spend more time with family and travel. ‘‘Estoy acostumbrado a estar aquí reconociendo a otras personas... estoy agradecido…pero voy a hacer esto muy corto,’’ he told the council during his remarks.

Julie Allen thanked the council and colleagues, described pride in managing the Clean Water portfolio and the sanitation workforce, and noted the support she received from family during a long career. The council gave both honorees sustained applause and several members offered personal remarks about their leadership, crisis response during storms and fires, and institutional contributions such as BuildingLA and clean-water programs.

Why it matters: The presentation highlighted institutional knowledge in engineering and sanitation departments and the officials’ roles in large capital projects and citywide systems. Councilmembers said the departures will leave large operational and institutional gaps and praised both for training successors.

Council action: The remarks indicated the council would present a resolution honoring the two employees; the transcript records ceremonial recognition, speeches and applause. The transcript does not record a separate roll-call vote adopting a resolution during the public portion of the meeting.