U.S. Calls Corridor Job Gains Overstated

The agency in charge of building the $2.4-billion Alameda Corridor has overstated the number of full-time jobs that will be created during construction of the new rail link to the county’s fast-growing ports, a new federal report said Wednesday.

Officials of the U.S. Department of Transportation also concluded that the employment figures used by the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority to promote the costly public works project are “subject to gross misinterpretation” by the public.

The corridor agency, the department’s report stated, has repeatedly claimed that 10,500 jobs would be created over seven years, giving the false impression that 10,500 people would be continuously employed by the project.

But calculations made by the department’s inspector general indicate that there will be only 1,325 jobs available every year on average for the life of the project, for a total of 9,250 jobs.

Gil V. Hicks, the corridor authority’s general manager, downplayed the findings Wednesday, saying the employment figures were not overstated by very much and are in line with the agency’s updated forecast of about 9,000 jobs.

In addition, corridor officials maintain that agency officials have always said the 10,500 figure was over the life of the project and not an annual estimate. The Department of Transportation report pointed out, however, that the corridor’s promotional literature repeatedly mentioned the creation of 10,500 jobs without the explanation that the number was cumulative.

The actual number of jobs created by the new rail expressway along Alameda Street is of special concern to economically depressed cities along its 20-mile route and to state Sen. Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco), who believes the corridor agency’s original estimates may have been greatly exaggerated.

Kopp had scheduled a public hearing on the issue for Nov. 6, but state Sen. Betty Karnette, (D-Long Beach), who recently replaced Kopp as head of the Senate Transportation Committee, postponed the hearing until early next year.

“This is a legitimate issue for the committee,” said Rocky Rushing, chief of staff for state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), who is a member of the Senate transportation panel. “The corridor authority has told local, state and federal officials that there would be a bounty of jobs created by the project. Now we are finding this might not be the case.”

The Transportation Department’s review of the project was undertaken at the request of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Carson). Earlier this year, she filed a complaint with the department and U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, questioning the corridor’s job forecasts and whether the agency was improperly helping private job training agencies win contracts.

Department investigators said they found no wrongdoing related to the corridor’s job training programs. Instead, they raised questions about the agency’s employment forecasts and recommended procedures to help it achieve its hiring goals.

The report said the corridor agency needs to set up a diligent monitoring system to ensure that it fulfills its goals in hiring people from the economically depressed cities along the project’s route.

Corridor officials have promised that 30% of all work hours will go to residents of the so-called corridor cities, such as Compton, Carson, Huntington Park, South Gate and parts of Los Angeles.

In addition, the corridor has vowed to set up a job training program for 1,000 people. Of the corridor jobs given to local residents, about 30% will be earmarked for graduates of the program. Overall, authority officials describe the effort as one of the most ambitious for any public works project in the country.

“We agree with the Transportation Department’s concern about proper oversight,” Hicks said. “We have requirements to provide detailed data on performance and we will have the staff to confirm whether the goals are being met.”