Psst! Don’t tell anyone but if you got charged for parking at the DWP Headquarters at 111 N. Hope St., you were ripped off.
The DWP has been charging visitors and other non-employees $16 a day — recently raised to $21 — for years but is operating its public parking lot without a city permit.
I know it’s hard to believe but the DWP is a parking scofflaw just like so many other parking lot operators who owe the city more than $150 million.
Close followers of the endless stream of bad news about the abuses, mismanagement and secrecy at the DWP, will not be shocked and amazed to learn that the utility you own and pay so dearly for has no more respect for the law than it does for your money.
Responding to a formal letter of complaint nearly a month ago, Police Commission investigators has found no evidence the DWP has an “auto-park permit” required of anyone, even city agencies, to operate a parking lot that serves the public and charges them.
Nor is there any evidence has ever paid the city’s 10 percent parking tax so what it owes the city could be substantial with penalties and interest included — unless the DWP doesn’t have any records of where all that cash has gone, which would be par for the course. Hopefully, it didn’t buy beer and cover charges at strip clubs for DWP workers.
According to the letter of complaint to the Police Commission, the person who filed the report has faced “threats of retaliation, intimidation, and other negative issues generated by
multiple DWP employees.”
Investigators have been in no great rush to investigated the complaint and only visited the DWP headquarters last week
“We are going to be talking to DWP officials soon to determine how they are running the parking lot, to see if it’s open to public, and if they are charging a fee,” said Officer Luis Garcia.
“They are required to have a permit unless it’s used for employees only.”
The DWP will be required to seek a parking permit and the issue of collecting what will be owed will be turned over to the Office of FInance.
Last year, Neighborhood Council members even those involved directly as members of the Memorandum of Understanding committee providing oversight on the DWP and members of the public attending DWP Board meetings were required to pay the fee or park elsewhere.
What about the money collected illegally for parking over the years?
Don’t hold your breath. The DWP still has shown no inclination to refund the $130 million it illegally collected for water and turned over to the general fund.
It’s about damn time these crooks got caught. $16 dollars is a lot of money and I had to walk my tired ass up blocks to find an ATM when they said I had to pay. I’m going back for my money.
Where does this money go? Someone better have an answer.
Nearly 5 hours have passed since this was posted, Ron. I’m being told this is post #3. How truly pathetic it’s come to this!
The scale of unanswerable and dubious opaque and illegal misuses of taxpayer derived funds is growing daily, (note: Comptroller Grueul reported $130 in ‘unaccounted for’ city equipment today). I’m appalled by the apathy! These criminals will be back unless we stop them.
Well, Nahai has some legacy to brag about.
Two can play at this game. Why doesn’t the City Council change the law and make DWP vehicles start paying for the services they get for free, like double for parking and triple for licensing, quadruple for parking permits. For that matter, why don’t they nickel and dime DWP employees on all city fees. Like they do the rest of us. That way, the City can collect the money legally rather than begging and whinning. That way the DWP employees can sleep at the park and get their beer and we can get in on some of the action.
Why does the City tax itself?
El Pueblo pays a parking tax, the same is owed by DWP? Probably other Departments too.
If the City is getting parking revenue and getting tax revenue (or supposed to, in the case of DWP), it doesn’t make sense that the City would then tax the Department on top of getting revenue that either reverts back to the City, or is used in the Department budget in lieu of budgeted funding. The City is taxing itself. WTF?
8:03 AM
Each department is supposed to pay its way. Makes for a level playing field.
Still doesn’t answer the question…Why does a taxing government entity, tax itself?
jeff: It’s not an entity outside of the law, its a registered non-profit corporation and must operate like one.
Ron,
I went to a few meetings at the LADWP. I think one or two were validated in David Nahai’s office.
But, when I went to LADWP Commissioner meetings, I was told – personally by David Nahai once – that I could not park at the LADWP and have my card validated. I was told at the gate of the LADWP that they were too full due to other events that happened there that day. I was asked to park at a lot a couple of blocks away – to the tune of about another $7.00. I learned to park once for City Council meetings and walk from the City Hall to the LADWP. So if others were treated like me, I don’t know how much income they really made. They said they didn’t have enough room for employees let alone people attending the LADWP Commissioner’s meeting. I actually think I brought that up at the meeting that day.
DWP is using the tired excuse of “we need parking for our employees” as a way to discourage the true DWP stakeholders from attending Board Meetings and other events of interest. If we follow the logic they spout about needing more employee parking, then we need to ask why this supposedly forward and green-thinking organization has a policy in place that specifically prohibits ANY employees from working remotely – a BIG cost savings measure that has been implemented by all of their private sector counterparts and most of the Fortune 500 for many years now. Don’t bet that they have not made any money on the lot because Gary Wong at DWP tells all the DWP managers that “parking is a profit center for us.” For example, did you know that they charge a fee for their handicapped employees to have access to handicapped parking? They charge the exorbitant daily rate cash parking fee to some of their 100+ contractors that must be able to park on-site for various reasons. They even have AGMs involved in intimidating stakeholders regarding payment of the outrageous parking fees. And all of this is being done ILLEGALLY!