Four Stars Retire
This spring, four prominent Public Works employees retired after many years of City service. We honor and celebrate them for their dedication.
Julie and Ted Allen, Sanitation/Engineering
Ted Allen, the City Engineer who led the Bureau of Engineering since 2022, retired from the position at the end of May. Ted started his career with Public Works/Engineering in 1993 as a Civil Engineering Assistant, shortly after graduating from UCLA with a degree in civil engineering. He served as Deputy City Engineer for eight years, when he oversaw key projects including BuildLA, the Racial Equity Action Plan, and led BOE’s technology strategy department wide.
As City Engineer and Executive Director of the Bureau of Engineering, Allen led the Bureau’s delivery of an estimated 400 projects totaling $3.8 billion and 20,000 permits annually.
Julie Allen retired as Sanitation’s Assistant Director of Clean Water Programs, also at the end of May. She began her City career in 1991. At Sanitation, she managed a staff of about 500 people and managed wastewater conveyance, watershed protection, green infrastructure, wastewater engineering and planning, flood protection, and implementation of the Safe Clean Water Program.
Before that, as the Principal Civil Engineer at the Bureau of Engineering, she was the lead on two of the City’s most iconic building projects in its history: the reconstruction of the Sixth Street Bridge/Viaduct, which opened in May 2022 and the rebuilding of Echo Park Lake, amongst many others.
On May 28, the City Council presented Ted and Julie Allen with proclamations of congratulations for their service. They retire with a combined 64 years of City service and leave behind a City shaped by their dedication. Congratulations!
Victor Castillo, Refuse Collection Truck Operator, Sanitation
On April 4, the Board of Public Works honored Victor Castillo on his retirement. He started his City career 33 years ago in the East Valley, before transferring to the West Valley. In September 2023, he joined the Livability Services Division’s Illegal Dumping/Altered Shift Response Team.
Thank you, Victor, for your dedication in keeping LA clean!
Lance Oishi, Contract Administrator, StreetsLA
Lance Oishi, a registered landscape architect, retired June 6 after 27 years of City service. Working for StreetsLA since 2000, he oversaw the bureau’s street furniture programs for many years and was instrumental in the development of the STAP Program, which is installing 3,000 new bus shelters across the City.
