This is the moment when we find out who among our elected officials stands for the public interest and who should be thrown out of office.
There are no gray areas, either they are for us or for themselves and the special interests.
The drama that has unfolded in recent weeks has stripped them all bare, exposed their webs of worn-out fictions and outright lies, left naked their mismanagement as they danced around the result of years of overspending and sweetheart contracts.
Ten months into the fiscal year, they still have a $200 million deficit or is it $300 million or do they have a $100 million surplus as Council President Eric Garcetti speciously boasts.
They have failed to face the harsh realities, deflected responsibility and left most city agencies in chaos with huge gaps in staffing and services. And now they are at the precipice where denial of accountability and juggling the books to paper over their failure will only make them look more ridiculous than they already are.
The bills start come due this week for the Department of Water and Power with Jan Perry pushing relentlessly forward to rein in this rogue agency while the mayor faces the deadline for appointing a fifth member of the DWP Board and replacing David Freeman as interim general manager.
Next week, he must deliver his State of the City.and present his budget plan to deal with the $484 million deficit for 2010-11 — or is it $600 million or has the rise in pension fund investments eased some of the pressure. Their numbers are pulled out of thin air so it’s hard to know.
We will quickly see whether any of our elected officials learned anything at all from the fiasco over DWP rate hikes that ended with gridlock over $6 million and alarmist budget warnings from Controller Wendy Greuel that evaporated to her satisfaction when $30 million was found lying around in an undisclosed place.
Bernard Parks’ Budget Committee kicks off this week’s festivities by taking up the CAO’s latest financial guesstimates at 1 p.m. today and play more games with moving funds around to at least get through next month without running out of cash..
It will also consider Tom LaBonge’s proposal to sell a valuable Seagrave fire engine for $1 dollar to Los Bomberos “a non-profit organization comprised of Los Angeles City firefighters in partnership with community and business groups (that) mentors firefighter candidates; participates in efforts to recruit and train qualified candidates…and fosters upward mobility among its members.” So maybe things aren’t as bad as they look or perhaps LaBonge’s rose-tinted glasses have him living in a separate reality.
Then, on Tuesday at 2 p.m., Perry’s Energy and Environment Committee will start to take apart the DWP by first examining the two-month-old report on how the utility handled the more than 100 claims of losses from last fall’s Coldwater Canyon water main blowout — a report that relies on the usual arrogant bureaucratese to avoid engaging the widespread complaints of residents and businesses.
She also will get an “independent third party assessment of the LADWP’s water system and to determine the cause(s) of the recent water main breaks and related matters.”
Of greater concern to many is the DWP Rate Payer Advocate issue and Perry’s Committee will consider several different motions that date back to the end of last year..
One by Jose Huizar and Richard Alarcon would have the DWP set up a “fully independent ombudsman, something the DWP shot down in December.
“LADWP customers do not need a ratepayer advocate since…customers have reliable service..customers enjoy the lowest cost of service in Southern California…LADWP has already numerous levels of oversight, supervision and control…Executive Management Team continues to share information and create opportunities for dialogue to increase transparency and education…The Mayor, Los Angeles City Council, Controller, and the Board already perform the role of protecting the ratepayers, including the low income and lifeline customers…The costs to establish a ratepayer advocate position/division at LADWP are unknown…”
We all need a good laugh to start off the week so the DWP Dec. 29 letter should help.
Then, there’s a proposal from Greig Smith, Perry and Garcetti for an Inspector General within DWP that dates back to October.
“Over the course of the past year, the Department of Water and Power (DWP) has faced a variety of issues that have impacted the City and brought concern to its residents,” the motion says at the outset citing “the ongoing deterioration of tbe DWP’s infrastructure,” rate hikes, lack of transparency and other well-known problems like the lack of a coherent green energy program.
Both these motions would seem to be out of the question given recent events which have discredited Freeman and his No. 2 Raman Raj.
A third motion that also has languished since October is by Garcetti and Perry to actually create the Rate Payer Advocated through a Charter Amendment that would truly make it independent and permanent and largely immune from political influence.
“The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is at a critical point in their
history,” the motion says.
“LADWP rates, costs of water and energy procurement and infrastructure needs
have increased. While LADWP has taken some measures to improve efficiency and spur
conservation, often in the form of rate increases, their lack of responsiveness to
customers and providing transparency has made these attempts ineffective and left
customers disenfranchised.”
Not on the agenda is the latest move to derail accountability and transparency in the DWP, the proposal from the mayor, controller, DWP Board and its officials to let Greuel be the public’s watchdog — which is like sending a kitten on a leash to do the work of a junkyard dog roaming free.
The bottom line in all this is whether the Council’s standing up to the mayor and the DWP on massive rate hikes without a plan was just a rare show of courage or whether they actually get it.
The DWP is broken and failed in its mission. It has betrayed the public trust and lost the confidence of the people.
No capable utility executive wants the job of General Manager as long as Freeman is hanging around and there is no political will to take down union boss Brian D’Arcy.
Any attempt to raise rates without coming clean about the Integrated Resources Plan that is being suppressed and clearly showing what all costs are of fossil fuels, green energy, job creation, salary and benefits costs and all the rest that the DWP works so hard to keep secret or unintelligible.
How the full Council deals with these issues and the mayor’s budget plan will determine whether City Hall is capable of fixing what our elected officials have broken or whether they all need to be replaced and major reforms instituted through boroughs or other measures that will share power with all segments of the community and turn LA around.
Ron, you were being too gentlemanly and polite to say they pull figures from thin air. The region they get them from is far lower, darker and more forbidding.
Tony V’s state of the city speech should be a hoot of laughing and holler of hollow lies and foreboding tinged with unflagging optimism.
What did ol’ Will Shakespeare say? The raving of an idiot signifying nothing…or something like that.
“”"The bills start come due this week for the Department of Water and Power with Jan Perry pushing relentlessly forward to rein in this rogue agency”"
HELLOOOOO Jan Perry and the rest of her corrupt colleagues are now trashy DWP but remember they all voted to give them a raise knowing the financial crisis was here and another $5 million to the DWP general managers. There isn’t one city council member who had the guts starting last year to go after DWP and kept spending millions widly. No one knows how much the city has cause Wendy is so out of the loop she should never have been elected City Controller. The people are in deep shit with these imbeciles running City Hall. I say get rid of ALL OF THEM AND NEVER ELECT ANY OF THEM TO HIGHER OFFICE.
Smith actually has an 8 point motion that proposes among other things
- The 5 member board be appointed by the mayor (2), the council (2), and the NC’s (1)
- City transfers prevented from being vested in the Pension plan for 5 years to discourage transferring to DWP
- charter reform for DWP wage parity be put on the ballet
- Give the council the power to remove any DWP GM or Commissioner with a 2/3rds vote
- Requiring a percentage of commissioners to have industry specific expertise
- Open up the DWP books and require approval by the council on all budget matters
He issued the motion last week, a shame it was never mentioned here. I guess if your agenda is just to talk shit and reframe every political development as an apocalpytic battle between good and evil, stuff like this doesn’t matter
I don’t trust or believe anything will change. The DWP is like the mafia and our pathetic,lying, self-centered, photo-op,malicious, and conniving Mayor is in bed with them. That was so obvious these past few weeks. He acted like a spoiled brat, vindictive when he did not get his way, even if his proposals do not benefit the ratepayers. Always cryng and pushing that the city unions take a 10% paycut across the board, but the L.A. city unions have already been hit with Furloughs since last July. Why does he not push for the DWP employees to share part of this sacrifice. He dare not even mention that prospect. He and council approved a fat, lucrative 5-year raise for them, eventhough they make about 20% more than their conterparts in the city. That should clearly demonstrate the power the DWP has over “L.A.s worst mayor ever”.
We don’t need an eight-point proposal, or a “rate-payer advocate.”
We need eight new City Council Members, each one of whom will act as a rate-payer advocate.
The problem isn’t a lack of rules, regulations and charter provisions.
The problem is the people holding office.
11:08 Smith staffer give us a break!!!!! If you want us to believe how great Smith is for putting forth 8 motions, why the hell did it take community members to consistently speak out for months against DWP and only when the media started reporting did council get up off their asses and act? Pllllleeeeaasseee Smith did what he had to because he knew what council has been in bed with DWP for too long. How long has Smith been in council? Long enough to have done this a long time ago. But DWP helps city council by transferring millions and they didn’t want to cause any friction. Only when Ron started posting an anti-incumbent movement did the council members start listening to the people. I think they will cave in and pass a DWP rate hike anyway and this trash talk was all show.
We don’t need an eight-point proposal, or a “rate-payer advocate.”
We need eight new City Council Members, each one of whom will act as a rate-payer advocate.
The problem isn’t a lack of rules, regulations and charter provisions.
The problem is the people holding office.
The problem isn’t a lack of rules, regulations and charter provisions.
The problem is the people holding office.
The problem is all of the above. IE Villa is a fool but if he would have had zero pull on the DWP if Riordan didn’t modify the charter back in the day to give himself more power.
And if it was viable to get all the right people into office at any given time, we wouldn’t need to have checks and balances incorporated into the charter. You’re disregarding pragmatism to cling to a pipe dream.
“If you want us to believe how great Smith is for putting forth 8 motions,”
A motion is how an individual on the council tries to influence policy. I guess they could try to do it your way – throw a tantrum, but I don’t think that would be as effective.
“Only when Ron started posting an anti-incumbent movement did the council members start listening to the people.”
I hate to break it to you and this might be hard for you to swallow if you get all your news from this blog and OURLA.org, but LA politics is bigger than just Ron Kaye and the political machine is swayed very little by a retired journalist who rarely backs up his arguments and can’t even read the dates on a chart correctly.
You should’ve said, only when the mayor used the DWP to try and make a power play, did the council members start blah blah blah, because that’s what happened.
Yeah right 12:52pm that’s why Ron led the charge AGAINST MEASURE B AND WON!!!!! I know thousands of community members who would disagree with you council staffer. You THINK the political machine is bigger but how do you argue how Chris Essel getting as ass handed to her on a plate when she had MILLIONS and Krekorian had the WILL of the people????? You are clueless to the grass root movement that is happening in our city. Step out of the way you city council groupie or we will run over you.
“I know THOUSANDS of community members”
thousands huh, you must be super popular
I don’t really care about Paul “I now make $180k but unlike most of the council I won’t take a paycut” Krekorian
I’m still waiting for Carmen “I won’t take a paycut either” Trutanich to do something meaningful. As opposed to putting people in jail with bails so ridiculous even KFI DJ’s laugh at him. Or going after Skid Row dealers for selling drugs that will be legal after November
Oh I’m sorry. He’s not really going after them, he’s just making them set up shop further down the block
To 12:52,
Thank you for reading this blog. Obviously you were attracted to it and moved to comment – that’s quite a pull, isn’t it?
“Thank you for reading this blog. Obviously you were attracted to it and moved to comment – that’s quite a pull, isn’t it?”
If you define pull as a single person being moved to comment by irrational arguments and misinformation, that would be quite a pull.
Politics is not my cup of tea. I just know that people of Los Angeles understand its time to fire a few elected officials.
The LADWP is corruption and dishonesty personified from from step one. They think nothing of destroying the lives of their customers due to LADWP negligence in a myriad of instances. Without question, they are the embodiment of organized crime, threats and doing everything they possibly can to continue on their crime spree, backed by the Mayor. How much longer do the residents of Los Angeles have to put up with the corruption the LADWP continues to ride on. They city council AND the ENTIRE LADWP heirachy must be replaced NOW !!!
I drop a comment when I like a post on a site or I have something to valuable to contribute to the conversation. It’s a result of the fire displayed in the article I looked at. And after this post City Hall Exposed: LA’s Moment of Truth | Ron Kaye L.A.. I was actually moved enough to drop a comment
I do have 2 questions for you if it’s okay. Is it just me or does it look as if like a few of the comments come across like they are left by brain dead people? 
And, if you are posting at additional sites, I would like to keep up with you. Would you list the complete urls of all your public pages like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?