The Brief

At 47, Ibrahim Mohamed doesn’t fit the typical image of a college intern. When he arrived in the U.S. from Sudan in 2016, he went online to look for a steady job and decided he wanted to be an electrician at a water treatment facility.

A few years later, he started his internship, which is part of a state program known as a “High Road Training Partnership.” The focus is on training workers for “high road” jobs, defined as those that pay a living wage, provide opportunities for promotion, guarantee safe working conditions, and may offer other benefits, such as a union.

Since 2014, California has put roughly $370 million toward High Road job training, said Erin Hickey, a spokesperson for the California Workforce Development Board, in an email. The board, which administers the program, refused multiple requests for an interview.

In Mohamed’s case, the money went to Jewish Vocational Service, a Bay Area nonprofit organization that worked with local water treatment districts and community colleges to create the internship. The water district is responsible for paying the interns, who work part-time, by way of an intermediary, and at a rate of $27 an hour.

While the internship doesn’t cover all of his bills, Mohamed is committed to it and the future it could hold. In 2019, he moved from West Oakland to settle in Pittsburg, about 45 minutes away, in order to take night classes at Los Medanos College and intern with the Contra Costa Water District two days a week.

The rest of the week he works as a programmer for a Canadian company. He started working there while living in Sudan. “It pays better,” he said, speaking of his programming job, “but it’s not continuous.” Some projects pay as much as $3,000, he said, but other times, the company gives him no work at all.

“I need a stable job. I don’t like moving from place to place,” he said.

The High Road programs vary by industry. In some cases, like Mohamed’s internship, the state is trying to expand access to jobs that are already considered “high road,” even if the supply of jobs is limited or highly technical. In other cases, the money is meant to transform “low road” jobs — those with low pay, poor working conditions, and few opportunities for advancement — into better ones.

The High Road program is an improvement compared to many other workforce programs, which often prioritize training people for jobs regardless of the quality, said Laura Dresser, the associate director of the High Road Strategy Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She helped coin the term “high road” and served as a consultant to California’s workforce programs in 2017.

While other states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have made similar efforts, she said California’s program is larger and more systematic. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has allocated most of the money and tried to focus on jobs that promote sustainability. High Road jobs are also a part of his Master Plan for Career Education, to be released later this year.

However, as the state faces a $38 billion budget deficit for the 2024-25 fiscal year, Newsom recently proposed cutting roughly $100 million from workforce development, most of which comes from High Road Training Partnerships or related programs.

A job program that helps employers, too

The state’s High Road program is designed to be a “partnership,” something that’s mutually beneficial for both employers and workers, said Hickey in the email. As Mohamed looks for a stable job, the water treatment industry is aging, with a higher percentage of skilled workers ready to retire than in other professions across the state, according to a 2023 report.

It’s a “silver tsunami,” said Steven Currie, the workforce development program manager for the Contra Costa Water District. He said the district is also trying to diversify its staff. An internal survey of employees found that the water district is disproportionately white and male, compared to the county population.

Intern Ibrahim Mohamed performs a maintenance check on a temperature sensor inside a Contra Costa Water District plant in Oakley, Jan. 30, 2024.

(

Loren Elliott

/

CalMatters

)

A few decades ago, the district had a pipeline of skilled labor that came from a nearby paper and steel mill and from employees at the oil refineries near Concord and Martinez. The paper mill is gone now, the steel mill is about to close, and many of the oil refineries are shifting to renewable energy. A job posting for an electrician that used to get 25 to 30 applications now sees less than half that, said Matthew Novak, the district’s maintenance manager.

Over the past six years, Jewish Vocational Service has received a series of state grants, totaling just shy of $3 million, to help create a pipeline of new talent for the water and wastewater industry.

While the jobs come with benefits, such as healthcare and a pension, and the wages are good — with the lowest salary starting at around $65,000 a year — these positions require years of specialized training that can be hard to come by, said Elizabeth Toups, a senior manager for the organization.

Mohamed has about two years of experience, but the specific position he wants, known as an instrument technician, requires five years. The Contra Costa Water District has seven employees working in that role, and even if he had the experience, none of those positions are currently open.

In its reports to the state, Jewish Vocational Service said the number of job placements in the water and wastewater industry fell below expectations. Toups said many trainees ultimately find work in other fields that need specialized electricians, such as construction or electric vehicle manufacturing.

“That’s not necessarily a loss, as far as we’re concerned,” she said. “Those people are getting jobs, and they’re getting that valuable experience.”

What’s working in workforce training?

In other cases, however, the outcomes have been mixed.

In 2021, the Miguel Contreras Foundation, a nonprofit training partner of the Los Angeles AFL-CIO, received nearly $650,000 to train electric bus mechanics in the San Gabriel Valley. The largest participating employer, Proterra, hired 11 of participants, but the company — once heralded as a leader in electric vehicle technology — filed for bankruptcy not long after.

The same year, the nonprofit organization Equitable Food Initiative submitted a proposal to help “improve the wages and working conditions for more farmworkers in the state” while helping farms mitigate climate change. With a $600,000 state grant, the organization taught several farm operators how to reduce waste and increase recycling and composting.

“It’s helped the workers a little because the fields are cleaner, and we’ve learned how to recycle, how to separate plastic, cardboard, and aluminum,” said Benancio Estrada Martinez, the harvest manager at GoodFarms, which grows strawberries in Santa Maria. It was one of three businesses that participated in the Equitable Food Initiative’s High Road program.

As large retailers face pressure to cut costs and reduce greenhouse gasses, they put that pressure on smaller suppliers like GoodFarms, said Peter O’Driscoll, the executive director of the Equitable Food Initiative. He said this program provided workers and employers an opportunity to jointly decide how their industry could further cut emissions.

By selling its cardboard to a local recycling company, the farm has made at least $7,000, money that the workers decide how to spend. Current ideas include a raffle, a barbecue, or splitting the proceeds evenly between the workers, said Gabriela Gamez, who oversees the project, known as the Green Team.

“Lunches, barbecues, things like that — I don’t think we’re going to pretend that’s a life changing experience for the worker,” said O’Driscoll. Creating a system that yields more benefits for the workers would require reforming the industry. “In an agricultural (sector) that’s driven by low prices, the only place employers have to squeeze is workers.”

In 2021, the UCLA Labor Center released a state-funded evaluation of the High Road programs, which primarily described what programs did, without using any quantitative performance metrics. The team recently received another grant from the state and will release a second evaluation in stages over the next two years. The final piece of that evaluation will include a new method to assess success, one that doesn’t focus on metrics that workforce programs typically use , such as wages and employment rates.

For Mohamed, the most important outcome is getting a full-time job. The nearby East Bay Municipal Utilities District recently lowered the experience level needed for entry-level instrument technicians, and Mohamed said he’d consider applying there if an opportunity arises.

The East Bay Municipal Utilities District has a location in Walnut Creek, which is about 20 minutes from Pittsburg. “Maybe I work in Walnut Creek,” he said. Otherwise, he may need to move again.

“As long as I get my foot in the door, I’m going to do it,” he said. “If I need to move, I’m going to do it. I’m not going to hesitate.”

Financial support for this story was provided by the Smidt Foundation.

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."

Every year in Santa Ana, Luis Cantabrana turns the front of his home into an elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe that draws hundreds of visitors.

Along the front of the house, the multi-colored altar is filled with lights, flowers and a stained-glass tapestry behind a sculpture of the Lady of Guadalupe. Cantabrana’s roof also is lit up with the green, white and red lights that spell out “Virgen de Guadalupe” and a cross.

Visitors are welcomed with music and the smell of roses as they celebrate the saint, but this year’s gathering comes after a dark year for immigrant communities.

Luis Cantabrana stands in front of the stunning altar he built in front of his home in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year, his display draws hundreds of visitors.

(

Destiny Torres

/

LAist

)

Why do they celebrate? 

In 1513, the Virgin Mary appeared before St. Juan Diego between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, asking him to build a church in her honor. Her image — a brown-skinned woman wearing a green veil with her hands together in prayer and an angel at her feet — miraculously appeared on his cloak.

To celebrate in Santa Ana, worshippers gathered late-night Wednesday and in the very early hours Dec. 12 to pray the rosary, sing hymns and celebrate the saint.

Cantabrana has hosted worshippers at his home for 27 years — 17 in Santa Ana.

The altar started out small, he said, and over the years, he added a fabric background, more lights and flowers (lots and lots of flowers).

“It started with me making a promise to la Virgen de Guadalupe that while I had life and a home to build an altar, that I would do it,” Cantabrana said. “Everything you see in photos and videos is pretty, but when you come and see it live, it's more than pretty. It's beautiful.”

The Santa Ana home's elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe draws hundreds of visitors each year.

(

Destiny Torres

/

LAist

)

Gathering in a time of turmoil 

Many also look to the Lady of Guadalupe for protection, especially at a time when federal enforcement has rattled immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work, they don’t want to take their kids to school, but the love we have for our Virgen de Guadalupe,” Cantabrana said. “We see that la Virgen de Guadalupe has a lot of power, and so we know immigration [enforcement] won’t come here.”

Margarita Lopez of Garden Grove has been visiting the altar for three years with her husband. She’s been celebrating the Virgencita since she was a young girl. Honoring the saint is as important now as ever, she said.

“We ask, and she performs miracles,” Lopez said.

Claudia Tapia, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, said the Virgin Mary represents strength.

“Right now, with everything going on, a lot of our families [have] turned and prayed to the Virgen for strength during these times,” Tapia said. “She's a very strong symbol of Mexican culture, of unity, of faith and of resilience.”

See it for yourself

The shrine will stay up into the new year on the corner of Broadway and Camile Street.

California’s unemployment agency kept paying cellphone bills for 4 1/2 years without checking whether its workers actually were using the devices.

That’s how it racked up $4.6 million in fees for mobile devices its workers were not using, according to a new state audit detailing wasteful spending at several government agencies.

The Employment Development Department’s excessive cellphone bills date to the COVID-19 pandemic, when it shifted call center employees to remote work and faced pressure to release benefits to millions of suddenly unemployed Californians.

It acquired 7,224 cellphones and wireless hotspots by December 2020. State auditors analyzed 54 months of invoices since then and found half the devices were unused for at least two years, 25% were unused for three years and 99 of them were never used at all.

The investigation, which auditors opened after receiving a tip, identified 6,285 devices that were unused for at least four consecutive months, and said the department spent $4.6 million on monthly service fees for them.

From the beginning, the department had about 2,000 more cellphones than call center employees, according to the audit. The gap widened over time after the pandemic ended and the department’s staffing returned to its normal headcount.

As of April, the audit said the department had 1,787 unemployment call center employees, but was paying monthly service fees for 5,097 mobile devices.

“Although obtaining the mobile devices during COVID-19 may have been a good idea to serve the public, continuing to pay the monthly service fees for so many unused devices, especially post-COVID-19, was wasteful,” the audit said.

Department officials told auditors they were unaware of the spending, but auditors pointed to regular invoices from Verizon that showed which phones were not being used.

“We would have expected EDD management to have reconsidered the need to pay the monthly service fees for so many devices that had no voice, message, or data usage,” the audit said.

The unemployment department began acting on the auditors’ findings in April, when it canceled service plans for 2,825 devices. It has since implemented a policy to terminate service plans for devices that go unused for 90 days.

The California state auditor highlighted the mobile devices in its regular report on “improper activities by state agencies and employees.” The audit also showed that the California Air Resources Board overpaid an employee who was on extended leave as he prepared to retire by $171,000.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.