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Public Works reports stable workforce composition but flags lower half‑year minority hours
Summary
Public Works reported about 89,200 labor hours for April–Dec 2024, with 23% by Alameda County residents and 42% by minority workers for that period; a 15‑year lookback shows minority participation around 64%, and staff said they will monitor whether the shorter window represents a blip or a trend.
Daniel Valdez, director of the Public Works Agency, told the committee the semiannual workforce and outreach report (April–Dec 2024) shows roughly 89,200 labor hours across the agency’s projects during the reporting period and a stable long‑term workforce composition.
“Of these hours, nearly 23% were completed by local residents, and 42.2% were completed by ethnic minority workers,” Valdez said, summarizing the period’s hours and the ethnic distribution reported for the six‑month window. He added that, over a 15‑year lookback of 404 projects, minority participation is about 63–64% and Hispanic workers represent around 57% of the construction workforce for that longer timeframe.
Valdez described outreach and capacity‑building efforts, including a vendor breakfast series, project‑level outreach and a construction contractors academy aimed at helping local and small local businesses bid on public contracts. The agency said the first such breakfast outside the reporting window drew about 98 attendees and showed strong local participation.
Supervisors asked whether the lower minority share (42% for the half‑year window) indicates a longer trend. Valdez advised caution: because the report covers a limited set of projects (41 projects in the period vs. ~404 over 15 years), short‑term variation can occur and a full‑year analysis would better indicate sustained change.
Supervisors also requested better public mapping of pipeline projects, more outreach to under‑represented ethnic groups — particularly African American residents — and ideas for partnerships (including probation and sheriff’s programs) to expand workforce access. Valdez said larger capital projects are published in the capital budget and that staff are exploring interactive maps to improve public access.
What’s next: staff will continue outreach efforts and monitor whether the half‑year figures represent an anomaly or a change in workforce dynamics; no formal actions were taken at the meeting.
