LA City Council Committee To Consider How To Reform DWP

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A ballot measure aimed at reforming the Department of Water and Power will be considered Friday by a Los Angeles City Council committee.

Mayor Eric Garcetti released a list of changes he wants to see in the potential ballot measure aimed at overhauling the DWP ahead of Friday's meeting of the council's Rules, Elections, Intergovernmental Relations and Neighbors Committee, which will be holding meetings to receive feedback on the proposed measure.

The DWP board, which is made up of volunteers, should be full-time and have the authority to oversee the day-to-day operations of the utility, Garcetti said.

The ballot measure should also call for a faster and more flexible process for hiring employees and contracting vendors, and grant greater powers and wider information access to the ratepayer advocate, he said.

Garcetti also wants changes to the way funds from the DWP are transferred to the city general fund but said he wants to hear from a "broad cross-section of stakeholders and experts" on how to do that.

Lower utility rates or discounts for low-income residents, park space and public schools should also be part of the ballot measure, he said.

One change Garcetti said was not needed was the existing process the mayor appointing board members and the DWP general manager. He said a system in which the mayor appoints and the City Council confirms members contains "checks and balances."

The initial ideas for the measure were put forward last month by Councilman Felipe Fuentes, who said he wants to reduce "interference from the City Council and mayor in board decisions."

Fuentes proposed that the volunteer Board of Water and Power Commissioners be switched to a panel of professionals who would work full-time and have their own legal and analytical staff to review the operations of the DWP. He is also calling for eliminating the civil service structure for DWP workers.

Fuentes said the civil service process, used for hiring city workers, slows down the hiring of qualified employees at the utility. He also wants a cap on the annual transfer of funds from the DWP to the city, which he said would allow the utility to retain more funding to invest in the water and power infrastructure.

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