Couresty, AECOM and America's Cup Event Authority

Piers 27 and 29, which are currently used primarily for bus and limousine storage, will take on a festival-like atmosphere in 2013, when they will serve as the America’s Cup Village.

The lawmaker behind San Francisco’s groundbreaking local-hiring law wants to force organizers of the America’s Cup to employ city residents for its construction jobs.

San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos authored the law, approved last year, which requires city construction contractors to employ San Francisco residents for at least 20 percent of work financed by the city. The requirement for employment of residents on city jobs will increase to 50 percent in 2016.

The San Francisco city attorney’s office says much of the shoreline construction work planned during the next 18 months to prepare for America’s Cup racing is exempt from the law because it is privately funded. But local labor advocates argue that the hiring law should apply because the work will take place on property leased by San Francisco, and some city money will be used to fund the project.

During a budget and finance committee hearing at City Hall on Wednesday, the America's Cup event authority pledged to hire local workers and work with local businesses.

Avalos, a member of the three-person committee, said that a pledge wasn’t good enough, and he told The Bay Citizen that he plans to try to force the event organizers to comply with the local-hiring law.

“With all the financial commitments from San Francisco residents for the event, it is critical that we extend the local hire principle to the America’s Cup,” Avalos said. “I hope an agreement can be made to create an enforceable local hire plan.”

A debate over the proposal is expected during the coming weeks as city supervisors mull financial aspects of the event.