Washington Offers $432,500 for Earthquake Repair, Jobs Project : Recovery: Simi Valley will vote on participating in the program, which will set aside federal funds to train workers and hire them as apprentices.

Combining job training with disaster assistance, the federal government is offering $432,500 to Ventura County to repair earthquake damage and hire disadvantaged workers to do some of the work.

The Simi Valley City Council will vote Monday on whether to participate in the program, which will set aside federal funds to train workers ages 18 to 30, and hire them as apprentices on repair projects.

Simi Valley, Fillmore and Piru--the Ventura County cities hit hardest by the quake--are expected to receive the lion’s share of the money that should cover training costs for about 90 people. During the 10-week course, participants learn basic skills for all the construction trades.

If the Simi council decides to participate in the program, the apprentices would work on repairing the Tapo Street bridge and installing an emergency generator for the city’s waste-water treatment plant, said Randi Joseph, a management analyst for the city.

Together those projects are expected to cost more than $2 million, Joseph said.

The $432,500 grant will pay workers minimum wage while they are trained in a 10-week pre-apprenticeship course conducted by the Job Training Policy Council of Oxnard.

The group has already offered one training class, paid for by private donations. Six trainees participated in the program, and of those four got jobs at the end of the class, said Roberto de la Selva, program director.

The job training council plans to schedule further courses after the cities know when the earthquake repairs will begin and how many workers are needed, De la Selva said.

“There is no sense in training these guys if there are no jobs available for them when they get out,” he said.

The class will be timed so that the students will be finishing their work as repair projects begin.

“It takes a lot of coordination with the cities,” De la Selva said.

Work in Simi Valley might not begin until the new year, so it could be several months before the training begins.

The federal government is pouring more than $10 billion into Southern California for earthquake repairs. About $5 million of that is being set aside for job-training programs like Ventura County’s, De la Selva said.

“Someone in the federal government realized that this would be a good way to make sure that a portion of that money is also used to help those that really need it,” he said.

The training will be done by local trade union representatives. After students finish the class they will be able to choose a trade and sign up for an official apprenticeship program with a specific union.

The program could be a first step toward dedicating a portion of all public projects to hiring and training disadvantaged and unemployed people, he said.

“If it works, I think we can go back to them and say, ‘Now we have a way to use our tax dollars to employ local workers that need it,’ ” De la Selva said.

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said he was interested in the possibility of getting more funds for job training and employment, but he doesn’t like the idea of more federal involvement in local affairs.

“Training is always an excellent way to go,” he said. “But you know the problem is Congress already makes these rules that we have to follow even if it doesn’t work here. We don’t need any more strings attached to this.”

In April, the city of Fillmore voted to participate in the program. The County Board of Supervisors is expected to take up the issue in September when it considers funding for Piru.