Category Archives: DWP

My Sunday Column: Standing up to the town bully — Glendale Just Says ‘No’ to the IBEW and Union Bully Brian D’Arcy

Posted on May 4, 2013 by

The sparse front page of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 website expresses exactly the message Brian D’Arcy wants his members to get: Rotating photos of protesting workers waving “A DEAL IS A DEAL” signs. It also features … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, DWP, Glendale-Burbank, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , | 30 Comments

Greuel Says She Didn’t Mean It When She Promised Union Bosses — ‘I’m gonna stand with labor, not stand up to labor’

Posted on March 14, 2013 by

Oops, the lady in question doth protest too much, claiming she misspoke when she begged for and got the mayoral endorsement Tuesday of Maria Elena Durazo’s County Federation of Labor with the help of union boogeyman Brian D’Arcy. LA Weekly’s … Continue reading →

Posted in 2013 Election, 2013 LA Elections, City Hall, DWP, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

Catch 22: The Greuel, Garcetti Challenge from Parks’ Budget Talking Points on Reining in Spending, Restoring Services

Posted on March 7, 2013 by

Herb Wesson forfeited all credibility when he failed in his blatant attempt to squeeze $216 million out of taxpayers to please his labor union bosses and the assorted greed merchants who have gotten so rich off of City Hall’s dirty … Continue reading →

Posted in 2013 Election, 2013 LA Elections, City Hall, Community Activists, DWP, Hot Topics, Los Angeles, Pensions | Tagged , , , , | 34 Comments

When DWP Rate Payer Advocate Fred Pickel Speaks, They Don’t Listen Anymore Than When You Speak

Posted on January 23, 2013 by

Way back before Mayor Riordan fired him for being a windbag and empty 10-gallon hat, DWP General Manager David Freeman announced the largest solar energy program in U.S. history. He spent tens of millions of dollars of ratepayer money on … Continue reading →

Posted in 2013 Election, 2013 LA Elections, City Hall, DWP, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | 6 Comments

Here comes the IBEW to pick your pockets: D’Arcy’s Glendale Power Play — My Sunday Column

Posted on March 31, 2012 by

Hold on to your wallets, good folks of Glendale, union boss Brian D’Arcy of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 wants to pick your pockets. If you think the piddling water rate hikes of 12% spread out over … Continue reading →

Posted in DWP, Glendale-Burbank, Hot Topics | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

SoCal’s Water Wars and the ‘Secret Society’ — A Question of Transparency for Rate Payer Advocate Pickel to Probe

Posted on March 15, 2012 by

Call for Fred Pickel, call for Fred Pickel — time to get your Office of Public Accountability and Rate Payer Advocate to do something more in the public interest than just taking home your $20,000 a month salary and figuring … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, DWP, Hot Topics, Los Angeles, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Why LA Is Broke: Blame $70,000 to $80,000 Salaries for Painters or Blame Yourself for Tolerating Corruption

Posted on March 5, 2012 by

Little things do mean a lot, perhaps because they are so easily overlooked because they are so little — like how the City Council has created a “Personnel and Animal Welfare Committee” because animals and people equate in their corrupted … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, DWP, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | 8 Comments

Why Your DWP Bills Keeping Going Up and Up — IBEW Salaries Keep Going Up and Up and Away

Posted on February 8, 2012 by

Carpenters: DWP $102,732; General Services 65,201; Airport  $82,999; National Average $43,890. Auto Painters: DWP $109,192; Fire Dept. $59,901. Cabinet Makers: DWP $101,840; LAPD $66,449. Garage Attendants: DWP $74,408; Airport $44,309; National Average $21,250. Land-surveying Assistants; DWP $123,433; Public Works $73,009′ … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, DWP, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

EXCLUSIVE: Twice Fired DWP Exec Raman Raj Claims Disability, Getting Full $264,000 Salary Six Months Later

Posted on August 22, 2011 by

It started a little over a month ago with a tip that came from inside the Department of Water and Power: Raman Raj is still on DWP payroll. It was hard to believe. Raj was summarily fired as chief operating … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, DWP, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 48 Comments

From the Lancer Trash-to-Energy Incinerator to Bulldozing the South Central Farm — Fighting City Hall for Environmental Justice in South L.A.

Posted on August 2, 2011 by

Fifteen years ago, a student at Jefferson High School wrote a paper about how the African-American community fought to kill the Lancer trash-to-energy project at 41st and Alameda a decade earlier. “Residents feel that South Central Los Angeles took a … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, DWP, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments