L.A. promised to hire 200 Black workers from a job training program. That hasn’t happened.

BY ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE |CALMATTERS (CALMATTERS) – Tekoah “TK” Flory was thrilled to receive a job offer from the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting last September. Flory had been directing traffic at Dodger stadium, a seasonal job that would be coming to an end soon. After taking on a series of minimum wage jobs, Flory, 31, was looking forward to starting a career in a city job Flory believed would pay $40,000 to $60,000 a year. “I was so excited, elated, ready to budget for the year,” said Flory, who uses they/them pronouns. “I was excited to have a career in this city instead of just working a job, instead of being just above broke or just making enough to eat.” But in January, the city rescinded the job offer. Flory was back where they started. Flory applied for office work in the street lighting bureau through the city’s Workforce Equity Demonstration Program, a partnership between the Los Angeles Black Worker Center and the L.A. Department of Public Works. Participants who get several weeks of training at the Black Worker Center can apply for positions in Public Works without having to take a civil service exam, often a barrier for...