Region : Minority Leaders Seek Job Diversity in Transit Project

The prospect that thousands of jobs may result has earned widespread support for the Alameda Corridor rail project, but at least one group has expressed concern that Latinos and other minorities will be used solely as laborers and will be shut out of construction management.

“We are concerned that we handle not only the pick and shovel but that we are in on the procurement side of the project as well,” said Arturo Montez, urban affairs director for the state chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, at a meeting last month of elected officials and business leaders.

Montez is among a group of Latino leaders who say that, although they support the proposed 20-mile freight rail expressway that would link the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with downtown Los Angeles, they are worried that women and minorities will be left out when construction contracts are awarded.

“Our concern is that we (should be) afforded professional jobs and contracts up front instead of waiting until construction begins,” said Edmundo Lopez, president of Alianza, a coalition of 16 business groups and a member of Latinos for Equity in Transit. “We want appointments and contracts.”

The $1.8-billion project to construct a 30-foot rail trench through the center of Alameda Street could begin as early as 1995 and is expected to create about 9,000 construction jobs.

Funding for the project must still be secured. Gilbert Hicks, general manager of the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA,) said the federal government has pledged about $57 million, while the state will contribute about $80 million. The remaining nearly $1.7 billion would likely come from the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the ports and revenue bonds to be repaid by transportation fees.

The project’s planners say the adoption of a minority procurement program is a priority. That program would establish guidelines to ensure that local, minority- and women-owned businesses receive a share of contracts.