Guest Opinion | Ron Matthews: From Policy to Paychecks: Why Local Hiring Must Be Measurable

Pasadena is at a defining moment in how it delivers public benefit from public investment. Now is the time for the City Council and City staff to reaffirm that local hiring is operational, not aspirational—by requiring workforce utilization plans at project approval, mandating transparent public reporting of hiring outcomes, and embedding enforceable local hiring requirements into construction contracts before work begins. Pasadena has both the policy tools and the public mandate to ensure its investments translate into real jobs for local residents.

That commitment is already taking shape. The City Council’s decision to pause the Central Library Seismic Retrofit in favor of a written, enforceable local hiring plan marks a proud and consequential moment for Pasadena residents seeking construction careers. By committing to active monitoring and contractor accountability, the City has drawn a clear line between outreach and outcomes—put bluntly, no more dog and pony shows—and established a precedent that can guide future development.

This distinction matters because Pasadena has spent years talking about local hiring—and has even adopted a local hiring ordinance—yet too often conversation has substituted for execution. Contractors hold community meetings, issue surveys, host job fairs, and highlight outreach and engagement tied to major construction projects. While these efforts are important, they are frequently treated as the end goal rather than the starting point. Outreach is not local hiring. Local hiring means Pasadena residents actually working on Pasadena projects.

True local hiring is measurable. It shows up as names on payrolls, verified Pasadena addresses, hours worked by local residents, and wages earned by people who live in the community. When those outcomes are missing, local hiring has not occurred—no matter how many meetings are held.

Pasadena already recognizes this principle through its First Source Hiring Ordinance, which was adopted to ensure residents have priority access to employment opportunities created by development and construction activity connected to the city. The intent is clear: public action should be translated into local jobs. Yet in practice, outreach too often substitutes for results, and enforceable requirements are inconsistently applied.

At the same time, Pasadena is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in public construction, much of it funded by voters through bond measures. These investments were not approved solely to deliver buildings, but to generate community benefit in the form of good-paying jobs and economic stability. If local residents are not working on these projects, that promise is not being fulfilled.

Too often, staff reports and contractor presentations emphasize outreach without reporting outcomes. We hear how many events were held, but not how many Pasadena residents were hired, in which trades, for how many hours, or what share of total labor was local. Without that information, neither the City Council nor the public can evaluate whether local hiring goals are being met.

Local hiring cannot remain voluntary if it is to be meaningful. Contractors respond to what is written into their contracts and enforced through oversight. If local hiring is not clearly defined, required, tracked, and publicly reported, it will always take a back seat to cost and schedule pressures.

This is not an argument against outreach. Outreach is necessary—but it is only the beginning. It opens the door; it does not guarantee anyone walks through it. When outreach is mistaken for hiring, progress is claimed without producing real economic benefit.

Pasadena has the tools to do this right: workforce utilization plans, local hire targets, residency verification, certified payroll review, and regular public reporting. These are standard practices in cities that take local hiring seriously. What has been missing is the consistent expectation that these tools be applied to every major public project.

Local hiring means people working. It means paychecks going to local households. It means building skills, careers, and economic stability where the work is happening. It is not a promise—it is an outcome.

Pasadena’s recent action on the Central Library project shows what is possible when accountability replaces symbolism. The challenge now is to make this approach the rule, not the exception, and ensure that every public investment delivers real jobs for the people who live here.

Ronald Matthews is a Pasadena-based construction professional and local hiring coordinator focused on turning public investment into measurable jobs for local residents.