Torres Asks More City Jobs for Latinos : Employment: State senator calls for reforms to increase hirings and promotions. He says community won’t stand for ‘blatant inequity.’

State Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) complained to the Los Angeles City Council Tuesday that Latinos are “severely under-represented” in city government jobs and demanded a more aggressive affirmative action program.

Torres said he was “dismayed” by recent figures that show that Latinos make up 37% of the county’s population but only 19.5% of the city’s work force.

“The Latino community will no longer stand for this blatant inequity and injustice,” Torres said.

Over the last decade, Torres added, the city has made little progress in the hiring and promotion of Latinos.

John J. Driscoll, general manager of the city’s personnel department, acknowledged that the underrepresentation of Latinos is “greater than any other minority group in the city.”

Driscoll attributed the continuing imbalance to a variety of causes, including the tremendous Latino population increase in Southern California. “Every employer’s always slipping a little bit behind,” he said.

Torres called on Mayor Tom Bradley and the City Council to enact a range of reforms intended to boost Latino hiring and promotions. The first step, he said, should be to establish an independent monitor to oversee all hirings, promotions and transfers. The monitor would have the authority to demand an explanation if future positions are not filled by Latinos, he said.

In a written statement Tuesday, Bradley called Torres’ remarks “a positive challenge” and said the city has an aggressive affirmative action program. But the city’s demographics are changing, he said, and the program may need to be expanded. Bradley asked for a report from the city’s personnel department within 30 days.

Torres said he began to look into the city’s hiring record after similar problems emerged in August with in county government.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accused the county of discriminating against Latinos in hiring and promotions at its huge public hospital system.

The figures announced Tuesday by Torres were obtained from the city, according to an aide. They show that Latinos fared best in service and maintenance jobs, where they make up 29.2% of the work force, still below their percentage in the general population.

The problem exists throughout city departments, Torres said. Latinos make up only 17.68% of the city attorney’s 724 employees, 9% of the city controller’s employees and 19.3% of the employees of the mayor’s office.

Driscoll said Tuesday the city has taken a number of steps in recent years to step up recruitment and promotion of Latinos and members of other minority groups.

He said the council created an affirmative action recruiting unit within the personnel department and the city has instituted student worker and outreach programs.

Driscoll said the city’s civil service system includes rules that make climbing the bureaucratic ladder a slow enterprise.

Further, 30% of the city’s professional employees are engineers, but there are few Latinos--as well as blacks and women-- who graduate from college with engineering degrees, he said.