By Jason Islas
Lookout Staff

August 12, 2011 –At a City Council meeting last month, Council Member Bob Holbrook was alarmed when a staff report indicated the city spent over $737,000 on its Trades Intern Program.

What caught Holbrook's attention was not that city was spending so much money, but that according to the report, the $737,000 was spent and “of the eight interns who either graduated or left the program during the financial year 2010-11,” six found jobs.

“That's a $100,000 an intern,” Holbrook said at the council meeting.

“We have to find out more about this program,” he told The Lookout Monday, adding that he and the City Manager would be looking into the question.

“It's not that six people got paid $700,000,” Human Resources Manager Julie Rusk told The Lookout Thursday.

Rusk said that this was a result of a misunderstanding, saying that she took full responsibility for the confusion.

“We didn't do a very good job of discussing what the program does,” including where the money goes, she said.

The program, which targets low-income Santa Monica residents between the ages of 18 and 30, is an apprenticeship program for which people have to apply, Rusk explained.

Program costs depend on how many individuals are enrolled in the program at any given time, she said. Currently, there are 13 interns enrolled in the program.

Rusk explained that the cost of each intern is a combination of a salary, approximately $29,000 a year, and benefits, which cost $21,000.

Because it's an apprenticeship program, participants also get guidance on various skills such as resume writing, interviewing skills and how to look for jobs. Rusk estimated that the counseling component of the program could cost between $4,000 and $5,000 per intern per year.

The grand total for one intern a year is about $55,000.

Rusk called the program “a cost effective way” to help get people into the workforce.

“The goal of the program is to give them [interns] two years of experience,” she said. She added that at the end of the program, “they also know how to get a job.”

Since the interns work under the direct supervision of Maintenance Management, they work with road maintenance crews or as carpenters, painters, mechanics and electricians.

“These are real jobs,” Rusk says.

In fact, the interns are paid much less than someone starting at base pay in a maintenance position.

According to Renee Cowhig, manager for the Division of Maintenance Management, a carpenter starting with the city would make a salary of $52,560, while an electrician – among the highest paid in maintenance – would make $53,736.

On top of those salaries, all employees also receive $21,000 in benefits.

“It's a great program,” said Cowhig, who directly supervises many of the interns herself. “By the time the two years come up, a lot of them are hard workers and are very valuable to the city,” she added.

Even in tight economic times, these positions go to at-risk young adults.

Rusk said, however, that they are not filling positions that might be filled by someone who was not in the program but still looking for work.

She called the intern positions “completely additive.” She went on to say that the positions “are meant to supplement” the maintenance crews, not replace them.

City Manager Rod Gould said that Rusk was able to break down the costs of the program in a much clearer way than could've been done at the city council meeting.

“It's a great way to help people into the trades,” he said. Considering the training interns get and the opportunity, he called the program “a very reasonable investment.”