LA WATCHDOG-Ratepayers and voters love to hate our Department of Water and Power.While DWP has done a very good job of keeping our lights on and the water flowing, often under extreme conditions, it has not been able to escape from City Hall’s long tentacles. And that is THE problem haunting DWP.
Every year, City Hall hits up Ratepayers for over $1 billion. This includes almost $600 million in cash derived from the City 10% Utility Tax and the undisclosed 8% Transfer Fee/Tax, the IBEW Labor Premium, the cost of numerous pet projects sponsored the Mayor and the City Council, and the dumping of surplus City employees and their unfunded pensions on DWP.
Recently, many Ratepayers have had to endure massive overcharges as a result of the failed implementation of the new $160 million Customer Information System.
Our trust and confidence in DWP has also been eroded by the recent front page scandal involving the unwillingness of IBEW Union Bo$$ d’Arcy to disclose how $40 million of Ratepayer money was spent by the Joint Safety and Training Institutes that are under his control.
It is almost comical that during this election cycle, the incumbents and candidates all talk about reforming our Department of Water and Power when the real problem is our elected officials.
In Council District 14, Jose Huizar (photo right) claims that he is the Ratepayer’s friend. No way. That is pure, unadulterated baloney.
Huizar supported hefty rate increases in 2008, 2010, and 2012. In 2009, he was a leading proponent of Measure B that would have cost Ratepayers billions extra because it would have granted the IBEW a monopoly on solar installations in the City. He tried to emasculate the Ratepayers Advocate, only to be foiled by a coalition of Councilmembers* (see below) that supported increased transparency. And on Wednesday, he took credit for the Feed-in-Tariff program, but failed to tell the assembled voters that it would cost Ratepayers $250 million more than alternative sources of solar power over the next twenty years.
In Council District 6, Nury Martinez is trying to tag Cindy Montanez as a DWP lobbyist. However, Cindy is one of the good guys as she was instrumental in saving Ratepayers billions – yes, billions - as she worked with Governor Brown and the State Legislature to protect our wallets from overzealous politicians.
Cindy is one of the few people in this political arena that has a good understanding of DWP, its operations, and finances which will serve Ratepayers well if and when she is elected.
But it is Wally Knox (photo right), a candidate to succeed the term out Tom LaBonge in Council District 4, and his involvement with DWP that take the cake.
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Knox, a Villaraigosa appointed DWP Commissioner from September of 2007 to April of 2009, claims he “supported a truly independent Ratepayers Advocate to protect consumers from unjustified rate hikes.” But in October of 2008, he and fellow commissioner Edith Ramirez derailed the proposal by DWP Commission President Nick Patsaouras to establish an independent Ratepayers Advocate.
The Ratepayers Advocate was subsequently approved by 78% of the voters in March of 2011.
Knox also claims the he “vigorously opposed a massive rate increase proposed by Mayor Villaraigosa which would have increased water and power rates by 37%!” But this proposed rate hike was in March of 2010, almost a year after he left the Board of Commissioners to take a $200,000 a year job as Deputy Executive Director of External Relations at the Port of Los Angeles.
In late 2008, the City Council placed Measure B, Mayor Villaraigosa’s Solar Initiative, on the ballot without consulting the DWP Board of Commissioners. However, the DWP Commissioners, including Knox, subsequently supported this ballot measure based on flimsy evidence that it would benefit the Ratepayers.
Measure B was rejected by 50.5% of the voters in March of 2009 despite a multimillion advertising campaign sponsored by the solar lobby and their cronies.
A first step in reforming our Department of Water and Power would be for the City Council to review of the unanimous recommendation of the LA 2020 Commission to establish a Los Angeles Utility Rate Commission that would establish rates and appoint the General Manager with a goal of limiting political interference from City Hall.
Another alternative would be to provide the Ratepayers Advocate with additional funding and increased job protection so that it could provide Ratepayers, the media, and City Hall with a comprehensive analysis of DWP’s operations, policies, and finances.
The City Council might also consider freezing the Transfer Fee/Tax at its current level of $265 million a year rather than permitting it to increase along with the growth in power system revenues.
There are numerous other reforms, including a detailed review of the efficiency of DWP’s operations and its labor relations, the development of long term financial plans, and allowing voters to approve any rate increases that exceed the rate of inflation plus 2%.
DWP is too important to the welfare of our City to be left under control of City Hall and their cronies. It is time for real reform of our Department of Water and Power.
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*Councilmembers Jan Perry, Eric Garcetti, Greig Smith, Tony Cardenas, Bernard Parks, Paul Koretz, Paul Krekorian, and Bill Rosendahl supported the Ratepayers Advocate, despite considerable opposition of IBEW Union Bo$$ d’Arcy and his allies on the City Council.
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee, The Ratepayer Advocate for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, and a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. Humphreville is the publisher of the Recycler Classifieds -- www.recycler.com. He can be reached at: [email protected].)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 16
Pub: Feb 24, 2015
