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Construction worker fired after posting TikTok video that poked fun at neighbors blocking street parking
Neighbors say they didn't want to see anyone fired, they just wanted a safe roadway for students in the area. KTVU's Tori Gaines reports from Palo Alto.
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Neighbors along Palo Alto's Middlefield Road say construction vehicles parked along their street are causing safety issues for children at Frank Greene Middle School. After they saw their neighborhood in a TikTok video, neighbors say the situation began to ramp up.
Charlie Trexler is a welder who works with construction companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. He posted a video to TikTok last month, when he was working as a welder for Cal Pacific Systems, contracted by Swinerton Builders to renovate Frank Greene Middle School on Middlefield Road.
"Rich people don’t want contractors to park in front of their house, even though we’re building a school. So they put their garbage cans out so no one will park there…" Trexler said in the TikTok video. The video shows Trexler moving a garbage can he says was left on the street for weeks, so he could park near his job site.
"I moved the trash can and parked my car and made a video of it…I lost my job over the video," Trexler told KTVU.
In an email to city officials and the Palo Alto School Unified District dated July 31, neighbors shared concerns for the safety of children heading to and from Greene Middle School every day.
A second email from the neighbors in August also mentioned Trexler’s TikTok post.
KTVU asked PAUSD officials for comment on Friday, they said they cannot comment on an employee that isn't part of their own staff.
PAUSD's response to the neighbors was delayed, but in an email sent on August 19, a district official wrote the following:
Neighbors tell KTVU after they made complaints to the school, a few barricades were installed by Swinerton, to give students a safe place to walk on their way to school.
Neighbors say since the barricades went up, they can now see more clearly as they pull out of their driveways. Signs have also been placed along Middlefield for several blocks, stating that no construction parking is permitted.
One construction worker still employed at the site tells KTVU that Swinerton has instructed its employees and contractors to park further away from the work site, but still on public streets in front of other houses.
"Which is kinda weird to me because it’s public street parking. I had to go back to my car and move my vehicle so it’s about a 10-minute walk to get to work now," the worker said.
We reached out to Swinerton and Cal Pacific Systems for comment; we have not yet heard back.
The construction employee still working at the school says this parking situation makes him feel like a second-class citizen,
"If you’re a construction worker, you kinda usually get a feeling when you’re in the residential areas that they don’t want you there, but they want you to build something for them," the worker told KTVU.
Trexler says he was sad to lose the cash from the job, and he might think twice about working in the area again.
"We’re just trying to make a living. I’d be reluctant to work in Palo Alto again for this reason...I’m not a peasant. I’m a professional. Nobody’s better than me and I’m not better than anybody else," Trexler said.
One neighbor KTVU she was sad to see someone get fired over this, and that wasn’t the intention. Some neighbors are hoping the city may make more permanent changes to parking rules in the area. We have reached out to the Palo Alto City Council and Mayor's office as well as the Palo Alto Police Department, but as of this report, we are still waiting for responses.