Atlanta committee conditionally approves temporary supplemental labor contracts after council seeks staffing schedule

The City Utilities Committee on Feb. 25 conditionally approved special‑procurement agreements for temporary supplemental labor to support the Department of Public Works and Parks and Recreation, requiring the administration to provide a detailed list of positions, departments and funding sources by the next meeting.

Deputy Commissioner Keith Robinson of Public Works told the committee the contract vehicle would allow the city to “augment our staff” during seasonal peaks and major events such as the World Cup. He said the two staffing firms under the proposed amendments — First Step Staffing and CEO Works — provide supervisors and crews and that the arrangement has been used previously to cover leaf season and after‑hours work.

Councilmembers pressed for greater detail about how these contract positions relate to existing full‑time, part‑time, seasonal and overtime staffing. One councilmember moved to approve the ordinance “on condition of receiving all this information by Monday’s meeting,” and the motion was seconded. Vice Chair Glenn Bakhtiari told the administration, “If this condition is not met on Monday, I will be against this paper,” arguing the Parks Improvement Fund should not be used repeatedly for operational staffing.

DPR’s representative explained the supplemental teams typically perform a second‑round cleaning shift in the afternoons and evenings at heavily used parks and splash pads and that vendors like CEO Works arrive with supervisors, trucks and photo documentation of completed work. Council members expressed support for the second‑chance employment model — several noted the vendors help people with criminal records return to work and sometimes lead to permanent hires.

The clerk recorded the vote as favorable on condition, 7 yays and 0 nays. The committee’s condition requires DPW and DPR to deliver a schedule showing how the contract positions would be used and how they interact with existing staffing and overtime levels by Monday’s meeting. The committee did not adopt additional funding changes at this session.

Next steps: the administration must provide the requested position schedule and funding breakdown by the Monday meeting; the conditional approval remains pending that information.