UPDATE: More bad news for DWP General Manager David Nahai and his No. 2 Raman Raj, who earlier in the day had to give up $152,000 taxpayer contribution to pad his pension. Contracts awarded to clients of his before he rejoined the DWP sparked questions about a conflict of interest and now the mayor wants them rejected. Here is the press release from the mayor's office sent out shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday:
MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA ASKS CITY COUNCIL TO REJECT WATER AND POWER
CONTRACTS
Mayor recommends two proposed contracts with DWP be sent back to Water
ad Power Commissioners for review under conflict of interest recusal
policy
LOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today issued the following
letter to the City Council regarding two proposed contracts with the Los
Angeles Department of Water and Power. The two proposed contracts will
be considered by the Council at its Friday, August 8 meeting.
August 7, 2008
Honorable Members of the Los Angeles City Council
c/o City Clerk
Room 395, City Hall
RE: Items 30 and 32 on the Friday August 8, 2008 Council Agenda:
CF 07-2555 (DWP contract with Convergent), and CF 08-0700 (DWP contract
with Osmose)
Honorable Members:
Section 10.5 of the City's Administrative Code provides that if your
honorable body does not take action on certain contracts within 60 days
of receipt, these contracts would be deemed approved. This Section
further provides that Council may disapprove the contracts and return
them to the contracting authority for reconsideration.
I am requesting a technical disapproval of the Convergent and Osmose
contracts which appear as Items 30 and 32 on your special agenda
tomorrow and that these be returned to the Los Angeles Department of
Water and Power. These contracts with the DWP should be reconsidered by
the Board of Water and Power Commissioners once the Board has adopted
and implemented a recusal policy. Only after the Board has reviewed
these contracts and made a factual determination based on an approved
recusal policy, should the items be resubmitted to the Energy and
Environment Committee.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Very truly yours,
ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA
Mayor
MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA ASKS CITY COUNCIL TO REJECT WATER AND POWER
CONTRACTS
Mayor recommends two proposed contracts with DWP be sent back to Water
ad Power Commissioners for review under conflict of interest recusal
policy
LOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today issued the following
letter to the City Council regarding two proposed contracts with the Los
Angeles Department of Water and Power. The two proposed contracts will
be considered by the Council at its Friday, August 8 meeting.
August 7, 2008
Honorable Members of the Los Angeles City Council
c/o City Clerk
Room 395, City Hall
RE: Items 30 and 32 on the Friday August 8, 2008 Council Agenda:
CF 07-2555 (DWP contract with Convergent), and CF 08-0700 (DWP contract
with Osmose)
Honorable Members:
Section 10.5 of the City's Administrative Code provides that if your
honorable body does not take action on certain contracts within 60 days
of receipt, these contracts would be deemed approved. This Section
further provides that Council may disapprove the contracts and return
them to the contracting authority for reconsideration.
I am requesting a technical disapproval of the Convergent and Osmose
contracts which appear as Items 30 and 32 on your special agenda
tomorrow and that these be returned to the Los Angeles Department of
Water and Power. These contracts with the DWP should be reconsidered by
the Board of Water and Power Commissioners once the Board has adopted
and implemented a recusal policy. Only after the Board has reviewed
these contracts and made a factual determination based on an approved
recusal policy, should the items be resubmitted to the Energy and
Environment Committee.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Very truly yours,
ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA
Mayor
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Twice in recent years, Los Angeles Magazine listed Kaye among the city’s most influential people, specifically in the area of politics. Kaye has been variously described in the media as the “accidental anarchist,” “the Patrick Henry of the San Fernando Valley” and a “passionate populist.” He is now committed to
carrying on his crusade for a greater Los Angeles as an ordinary citizen. Previously, Ron worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Australian as well as papers
in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yakima, Wash. He also wrote for Newsweek magazine, The Guardian in London and the National Enquirer.
With apologies to whoever wrote "Jerry McGuire," here's a message for Nahai: You lost me at "lactation."
Some interesting things continue happen when Mayor Tony V. stays around town to personally pull the strings on his puppets.
And this only seems to be where public attention happens to be shining light in the darkness of the city hall operations.