Politics & Government

Measures I and J: An End to Drama at the DWP?

Proponents say the twin measures would give the City Council timely information and more oversight about what goes on at the utility and could prevent last-minute price hikes.

Water and power issues are often on the agenda in a municipal election. Tuesday’s is no different, with Measures I and J aimed at putting some checks on the mighty Los Angeles Department of Water & Power.  

The measures reflect recent outcry over the way the DWP has handled its relationship with the City Council, consumers and business owners. They aim to make the quasi-independent utility’s budgeting and operations more transparent and accountable, and to ward off last-minute price hikes.

It’s difficult to find anyone who opposes I and J. City Councilman Eric Garcetti is a leading proponent of the measures, which he believes are good for consumers and business.

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Measures I and J came about after last spring when the DWP pulled a last minute switcheroo on the City Council: approve a rate hike or risk losing the more than $73 million surplus the utility was slated to give the city’s general fund. The general fund pays for services such as police, fire and parks.

The DWP was able to spring its surprise because it is not required to sync its budgeting cycle with the city’s, nor provide certain documentation that the city needs to build and manage its own budget.

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Measure J, the simpler of the two measures, would change that, proponents say. The measure would modify the City Charter to require the DWP to submit a preliminary budget by the end of March and a final one by the end of May. The mayor is supposed to submit his budget to the City Council by April 20.

Measure J would also mandate that if the  DWP needed to modify the size of its annual contribution to the general fund halfway through the fiscal year, it could do so but only after following a defined process that gives adequate notice to city officials.

Measure I focuses on the rate hikes themselves. It would create an office of oversight for the DWP, including a taxpayer advocate who would examine proposed rate hikes and report to neighborhood councils, the DWP board and the City Council about their necessity.

The initial cost for the oversight office would be about a million dollars, funded by DWP revenues.

A recent LA Times piece concluded that the newspaper would be “a lot happier with the DWP reforms if they included a measure to make the board independent.” Measure I would leave board appointments in the hands of the mayor, with the City Council confirming.

But most seem willing to take what they can get. Council members Jan Perry, Greig Smith, Bernard Parks and Jose Huizar signed the ballot  argument in favor of Measure I, along with Nick Patsouras, former president of the board of Water and Power commissioners, and Chuck Ray, of the Neighborhood Councils DWP Oversight committee.

Gary Aminoff, president of the San Fernando Valley Republicans Club, doesn’t like the idea of creating another bureaucracy in the city.

But he too supports Measure I.

“One rate increase could amount to $100 million, according to Kevin James, the radio talk show host who knows the City Charter well," he said.

“One million dollars in an advocate’s office thaat could kill an increase" seems worthwhile, he added.


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