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Commission recommends hiring two cement/concrete workers to address sidewalks and ADA repairs
Summary
Public Works recommended creating two cement/concrete worker positions to reduce trip-and-fall claims and perform ADA ramp and sidewalk repairs; the commission voted to recommend the job specification to City Council and discussed pay, inspections and cost tradeoffs with contractors.
The Civil Service Commission voted Jan. 27 to recommend a cement and concrete worker job specification to City Council after Public Works presented the proposal as a mitigation strategy for frequent trip-and-fall claims.
Caesar Roldan, the city’s public works director, said Montebello receives "quite frequently a lot of trip and fall cases" and lacks staff trained to remove and replace sidewalks, curbs and gutters. He told commissioners the department plans to hire two cement/concrete workers to perform permanent repairs, to reduce contractor costs and to document remediation efforts for future litigation.
Roldan said the city will offset some cost by eliminating a vacant senior management analyst position. He cited salary comparisons: the cement/concrete worker classification is proposed at range 25 and he gave a figure for step 1 at $61,003.98; he contrasted that with the senior management analyst at range 38 (annual figure as stated in the transcript was garbled). Roldan acknowledged the pay may need to start at higher steps to attract skilled labor.
Commissioners pressed on inspection procedures and alternatives such as hiring outside contractors on an as‑needed basis. Roldan said the city already has inspectors and a construction manager on site for contracted work, that the department conducted an inventory of uplifted sidewalks about a year earlier and would keep before-and-after photographs as records to demonstrate mitigation efforts. He also noted existing contractor projects and costs, saying the city is spending roughly $1,000,000 on removal and replacement projects and that ADA ramp replacements can cost about $10,000 each; he estimated larger-scale ADA work would cost millions.
After discussion, the commission moved and seconded a recommendation to forward the job specification to City Council; the motion passed on voice vote with four yeses. The recommendation asks City Council to adopt the classification and consider funding and salary steps.
