CAO: 27 of 33 Convention Center expansion positions filled; BOE and Public Works report no schedule risk

CAO staff told the Personnel and Hiring Committee that hiring for the Los Angeles Convention Center expansion and modernization project is progressing: of 33 authorized positions, 27 have been filled and six remain vacant.

Melinda Geier, the CAO analyst assigned to the project, said 27 of 33 authorized positions were filled, leaving six vacancies (five in the Bureau of Engineering and one at the Board of Public Works). Richard Louie of the Bureau of Engineering said the bureau has 13 authorized positions for the project, eight of which are filled and five are in process (two in interview stage; three advertised), and that the bureau is covering current work with its existing team so project schedule is not at risk.

TJ Napper of the Board of Public Works said five of six positions allocated to Public Works are filled and a conditional job offer for the remaining accounting position will be issued next week. Departments also described reliance on consultant construction management support from Arcadis for on-site delivery.

Committee members asked for a written comparison of contracting lessons learned from previous large projects and requested a follow-up report at the next meeting.