LaBonge, Krekorian Offer Strong Opinions on Proposed DWP Watchdog

The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to move forward with plans to hire a watchdog to act as an advocate for Department of Water and Power ratepayers, as approved by voters in the March 8 election.

The council approved an ordinance for creating of a five-member citizens committee that will select the executive director of the Office of Public Accountability.

But what powers that dirctor will have, and even where they will live, was not agreed upon.

Councilman Tom LaBonge wants to require the new hire to be a city resident and a DWP ratepayer. Councilwoman Jan Perry said the city shouldn't require anything that would preclude the citizens committee from hiring the best person for the job.

An attorney for the city told the council that a requirement for the person to live in the city might be unconstitutional and asked for more time to research the issue.

The council also debated the future authority of the ratepayer advocate, which has not been established.

"If this individual decides that a rate increase by the department of water and power is not justified ... is there any kind of compelling authority other than advisory that this person has," Councilman Dennis Zine asked.

"No," attorney Fred Merkin told the council. "There's no decision making authority with the office of public accountability. It's simply an opinion, an opinion and nothing more."

That take did not sit well with Councilman Paul Krekorian, who said the city is starting to make great progress on creating a robust DWP watchdog.

"This is not just somebody who will render opinions. This is going to be somebody who is going to provide us with fact finding and independent analysis that will allow us to make the judgements that we need to make," he said.

The council is in a hurry to create the office before DWP rates rise again.

"The Department of Water and Power is knocking on our door pretty hard, because they have a concern that they need rate increases, and they need them as soon as possible,'' said Perry, who reaffirmed that she and her colleagues would not approve DWP rate hikes before establishing the watchdog office. "We need to keep that commitment. We've vetted, debated discussed, made changes. The voters have spoken, we need to get this done."

DWP has proposed rates for the next three years that would increase bills by about 15 percent over that period, or an additional $2.24 on the average monthly water bill and about $4.04 on the average monthly power bill.

On March 8, voters approved a charter amendment to set aside 0.25 percent of the DWP's budget in order to create an independent DWP watchdog office.

The council put the measure on the ballot after a fight with the DWP over rate hikes last year. The goal "is to keep moving toward an empowered ratepayer advocate and Office of Public Accountability to ensure that customers are a top priority of the department again," Council President Eric Garcetti said. "As we all remember trust between the department and the ratepayers of Los Angeles was sharply broken when the department put forward a rate increase of up to 28 percent in the midst of a recession based on info we found at best to be misleading."

"It's not about whether rates are too high or too low. It's about whether rates being proposed are honest,'' Garcetti said, adding that he supported Ron Nichols, the DWP's general manager.

Under the approved ordinance, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Council President Eric Garcetti will each appoint two members and Energy and Environment Committee Chair Jan Perry will choose one.

The appointees must all be DWP ratepayers. One of Villaraigosa's appointees to the committee will have to be a Neighborhood Council board member, and one of Garcetti's appointees will have to be from the business community.

To speed up the process, the council set an Aug. 15 deadline for making the nominations.

The OPA will be fully funded by the Department of Water and Power and will not impact the city's budget. The city administrative officer recommended a preliminary starting budget of $1.5 million for the office.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called the vote a critical step.

A"s the largest municipally-owned utility in the country, LADWP has a unique responsibility to provide high-quality and affordable water and power to its residents," Villaraigosa said. "Angelenos themselves are the utility's most important stakeholders, and they deserve a ratepayer advocate to ensure that any change at the DWP is in their best interest."

The City News Service contributed to this report.