In this comprehensive interview with Mark Pestrella, Director of the Los Angeles County Public Works, Pestrella delves into the multifaceted responsibilities of overseeing the largest public works agency in the United States. Outlining the agency’s extensive scope, which includes managing water systems, roads, airports, and emergency responses for over 10 million residents across 4,000 square miles, he emphasizes the challenges of maintaining such vast infrastructure while simultaneously addressing climate change, which he describes as an ever-present threat that the agency has been planning for over the years.
Pestrella also discusses the agency’s strategic approach to leveraging historic federal funding from recent bills, such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), securing $1.5 billion to fund projects that prioritize climate resilience and equity. He underscores the ongoing challenge of workforce development in the face of a competitive labor market and highlights innovative approaches like AI and digital twins to enhance infrastructure maintenance and planning. As the 2028 Olympics approach, Pestrella shares his vision for showcasing LA County’s infrastructure, particularly along the LA River, as a reflection of the region's evolution and resilience.
David Abel: Mark, we've done several interviews over the years, and you've participated significantly in events like VerdeXchange.
For our readers, can you summarize the scope of responsibilities the Los Angeles County Public Works agency handles and the challenges that come with them?
Mark Pestrella: Absolutely, David. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. The Los Angeles County Public Works Agency is, by definition, the largest public works agency in the United States. This is due to a couple of key factors: the breadth of our responsibilities and the sheer size of the population we serve. We provide services to 10 million people across 4,000 square miles of infrastructure, both vertical and horizontal, and our agency is involved in all of it.
We operate across six main business lines. We are the Water Works Agency and the flood control district for all of Los Angeles County, serving 250,000 customers. As the County Transportation Agency, we manage 4,000 miles of roads and operate five regional airports. Additionally, we're the county's solid waste planner, managing all waste within the county and providing waste hauling services for 1.4 million people in unincorporated areas.
We also serve as the County Surveyor and Building and Safety official, offering services to 17 cities and unincorporated areas. Another key role we play is as the county's builder. We manage and oversee construction projects, including hospitals like Harbor-UCLA, iconic structures like the Disney Concert Hall, and essential facilities such as parks and fire stations. Finally, we're a full-service emergency management agency, handling everything from sewer issues to major disasters like earthquakes and fires. This expansive portfolio and our large constituency make us the largest public works agency in the country.
David Abel: Mark, let’s drill down and focus on the climate change challenges that your agency is responsible for addressing. We’ve experienced fires, floods, rains, and earthquakes—all within the last six months.
How do you prioritize these challenges? Can you give our readers a sense of how you’re tackling them?
Mark Pestrella: First, we're not climate deniers. For everyone reading this, our agency, along with its scientists and engineers—over 600 professionals—has been studying the impact and threat of climate change for many years. As an agency of our size and responsibility, planning for the future is crucial. We've been modeling and planning for the effects of climate change, knowing it’s a real threat. The public is now recognizing this threat as we see real-time impacts on our weather, which significantly affect our way of life, our resilience, and the infrastructure we maintain.
The County of Los Angeles is on the front lines of climate change, facing a wide range of environmental, social, and economic challenges. We’re seeing more frequent heat waves and urban heat island effects, prolonged droughts, and groundwater depletion. Climate change has also extended the fire season, directly impacting sedimentation, erosion, and the amount of stormwater we can capture, which threatens our drinking water supply. Additionally, we’re predicting increased inland flooding, coastal erosion, air quality degradation, and heat-related illnesses—all of which are measurable and have significant economic impacts, including the increased cost of maintaining and building infrastructure.
David Abel: Let's pivot to the Biden administration and Congress, which have passed several historic bills allocating billions of dollars to climate, sustainability, and infrastructure.
How is LA County Public Works taking advantage of these federal resources?
Mark Pestrella: Federal funding through initiatives like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS Act has been a great boost to every community. I'm proud that our agency has been leading the region in taking advantage of this historic investment. This effort started with the formation of a collaborative called Infrastructure LA, which includes all the major agencies in LA County. One of the main drivers for forming this group was to strategically leverage federal funding for climate-resilient projects, green and sustainable initiatives, and equity-focused programs.
We’ve secured $1.5 billion in funding so far. Examples include $50 million for the LA Airport Terminal, $139 million for the First and Last Mile Mobility Hubs and Bus and Rail Enhancements Program, $104 million for the Metro Low-Emission Bus Program, and $15 million for the Inglewood Transit Connector. Additionally, our Pure Water Southern California project, in partnership with agencies like the Metropolitan Water District and the County Sanitation District, has received $99 million.
What’s exciting is how these funds are being used to address climate change while also focusing on equity. For example, the BIL has a strong emphasis on rewarding communities that incorporate an infrastructure and equity framework in their applications. This means that our efforts to understand the burdens and benefits of past infrastructure investments and apply data-driven approaches to future investments are being recognized and supported by federal dollars. We're being strategic about this federal investment, and we hope it's not a one-time opportunity.
David Abel: Mark, all of the projects and shovels in the ground that you've just enumerated are significant. They raise the issue of how to manage a highly competitive labor market, especially for construction, engineering, and technical positions.
How do you approach securing, maintaining, retaining, and growing your capacity to deliver?
Mark Pestrella: Working on a national scale, I often interact with CEOs from both the private and public sectors. I tell you, David, in the infrastructure world, workforce development, talent acquisition, and retention are top priorities. It's always been an issue, but it's being highlighted even more now with the historic investment in infrastructure across the United States.
In the U.S., we need about 400,000 new engineers every year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for engineering skills is projected to grow by about 13% from 2023 to 2031. In the construction industry alone, a recent survey revealed that 77% of employers report difficulty finding skilled talent. There's also the issue of underrepresentation. For instance, women in engineering make up only 14% of the workforce in 2024, though this is an increase from 11% in 2014. Among civil engineers, 8% are Hispanic or Latino, 6% are African American, and 16% are Asian American, according to the latest data from the National Science Foundation.
Beyond the sheer need for more people, we also face challenges related to diversity in the workforce. Without diversity, we miss out on the best ideas, innovation, and infrastructure that truly serves all communities. We're working hard to increase these numbers and improve diversity. We've made significant progress, especially within our agency. We have over 600 engineers, and we've increased the number of female engineers by approximately 44%. Additionally, female representation in non-engineering trades has grown to 16.3%. These successes didn’t happen overnight—I've been working on this for about 20 years, striving to change the look, sound, and diversity within our agency. While we've made headway, there's still a lot of work to do.
We've also expanded our recruitment efforts in the past three years to include Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States. We're leveraging AI to spread the word about the importance of our jobs. To address the workforce challenge, we're feeding and growing new engineers by investing in STEM and STEAM programs throughout Los Angeles County. We're making infrastructure appealing to schools and have invested in the SEED School in southeast Los Angeles, a boarding school for local kids in the Florence-Firestone area. This school is growing new engineers and scientists to become part of our workforce.
We're investing at all levels of education and working hard to stay competitive by keeping our salaries attractive. We're also fostering a culture within the agency that excites people about working in the public sector. It’s not just the government side—it's also the private sector that helps us accomplish the work we do. Together, we're contributing to the growth of a new and dynamic workforce, ready to take on the once-in-a-lifetime investment we're implementing here in LA County.
David Abel: Mark, we're racing through what could be a thousand topics here that you're involved in. You're laying down a very impressive track, but I want to touch on a couple more related issues. With all the projects and funding you've mentioned, there's also interest and curiosity about how you maintain the existing infrastructure—not just building and investing in new projects.
Is the budget keeping up with that challenge?
Mark Pestrella: I really appreciate you asking that question because, as a responsible infrastructure agency as large as ours, we've learned through history that no infrastructure is worth building without having the maintenance capacity and dollars to sustain it. In fact, if we don’t maintain what we have, we risk creating disasters for communities that you can't even imagine. For instance, imagine not maintaining dams, reservoirs, channels, or the road system daily. You’ve seen some cities where this is happening because they haven’t had the budget for it. Thankfully, my direct supervisors—the County Board of Supervisors—have always made safety, and therefore maintenance of our existing system, a priority in our budgets.
Right now, across the 144 special district funds I manage, about 80 to 85% of our money is spent on maintenance, week in and week out, year after year. That's our commitment to maintaining high-quality infrastructure. While we have the budget for this, what's shrinking is our capital—the investment needed to keep up with things like climate change. The ability to do so is being threatened by the lack of capital to build new infrastructure. Programs like Measure W are helping to fill that gap, but looking ahead, I see that LA County may need to make a decision about potentially increasing rates across all of our utilities to keep up with maintenance.
It’s really about keeping our infrastructure in good shape so that we can continue to build new projects. I don’t want to add another piece of infrastructure if we can’t maintain it. I expect, and you’ve probably seen, that most utilities across the United States and in California have already acknowledged that the investment itself is not enough—we also need to continue investing in our maintenance efforts. You’re likely to see increases across the board, with communities being asked to contribute to this vital infrastructure that we’re building here in LA County.
David Abel: Drilling down on the maintenance of aging infrastructure responsibilities, readers in Southern California are certainly aware that recent fires and rains have damaged roadbeds, pipelines, and other infrastructure under your purview. Is the county considering new ways—perhaps through digital twins or other technologies—to get accurate and complete readings of the damage caused and to better address these challenges?
Mark Pestrella: Innovation is a priority for us, especially when it comes to better maintaining, building, and designing facilities. It all starts with knowing your assets—really understanding what’s going on and being able to do lifecycle planning for the infrastructure. Some time ago, the county made asset management a priority in our agency, and with that, we’ve brought in a lot of innovation and digital tools. We’ve been working with machine learning and AI for some time, but the new tools coming online, particularly in AI, are exciting us about what more can be done. We’re seeing improvements in situational awareness and lifecycle planning for infrastructure.
Much of what we have in the ground was overbuilt by our predecessors, which I’m thankful for, as it has lasted for a long time. But now, with advances in materials, construction methods, and the new digital frontier—including digital twins and AI—we can analyze data much more quickly, make better use of predictive analysis, and spend our money more effectively. For example, in our pavement preservation program, we prioritize taking care of the best roads first, which may not seem intuitive, but it extends the life of those roads. AI is helping us make these decisions smarter and faster.
We’re also leveraging our GIS systems, using supercomputers and AI to structure large amounts of unstructured data, and building digital twins. This allows us to consider more options and include more parameters when planning projects. We’re focusing on multi-benefit and multi-maintenance projects, where one tool or worker can handle multiple tasks across different types of infrastructure. This approach not only challenges our workforce to learn and grow but also saves money by reducing the need for multiple specialists. It’s an exciting time in the infrastructure world with the implementation of AI.
David Abel: Lastly, Mark, given our limited space, let’s talk about the LA River—something you and your agency have spent a lot of time on, especially with the updated master plan. With the Paris Olympics in the rearview mirror and the flags now coming to Los Angeles, what’s happening along the river in terms of projects? What needs to be accomplished before 2028?
Mark Pestrella: I love that we’ll have the chance to showcase the Los Angeles region during the Olympics, but I want to be clear—while it may be called the LA Olympics, events will be held all over LA County. The county is fully committed to presenting the area at its best, showcasing the artistic and social fabric of our diverse communities. The infrastructure needed to support the Olympics, including the LA River, is in pretty good shape, but we still have milestones to hit. While the transit system is getting the most attention, I’m glad you brought up the LA River. This is our opportunity, with all our partners along the 51-mile stretch, to rethink what the LA River could be. If we haven’t already built it, we can display what we expect it to become. A lot is happening despite what some might think—art spaces, gathering areas, multimodal transportation. A big goal is to complete the bike path along the LA River so visitors can ride from the Valley to Long Beach, with stops along the way to experience the rich cultures of the communities along the river. We’re planning pop-up sites along the path to showcase what the river has been, where it is now, and where it’s going.
LA County believes that the river represents the evolving nature of Los Angeles and could be a major highlight of the games if we make it so. We’re lobbying the City of LA to use their portion of the river in this way, and we’re also focusing on the lower LA River and its estuary, as well as the Southeast Los Angeles Cultural Center, which we hope to make progress on before the Olympics.
Of course, there’s a tremendous amount of work ahead, and we’re somewhat apprehensive after going and seeing what it took in Paris. The infrastructure teams, both mine and others, are going to have their hands full preparing for the Olympics.
David Abel: Mark, what a terrific opportunity. We’ll have to hear from you again—this won’t be the last time, I hope. And please mark your calendar for April 6-9 for the next VerdeXchange, VX 2025. You’re a big part of that, and we look forward to continuing this conversation.
Mark Pestrella: Awesome, David. Thanks as always—I appreciate it and I’ve got it on the calendar.