LA WATCHDOG-At last, the Ratepayers have the possibility of some transparency on what happened to our $40 million that was funneled to the Joint Safety Institute and the Joint Training Institute by the Department of Water and Power.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council finally approved a Letter of Agreement that will allow Controller Ron Galperin to perform an “Audit” to determine if the trusts’ expenditures were “reasonable and consistent with the objectives of the respective programs.”
This agreement also provides for City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana to conduct a “Performance and Operational Evaluation” to determine if the trusts “objectives and metrics have been met.”
It has been an interesting fourteen months ever since Jack Dolan of The Los Angeles Times exposed the lack of oversight and transparency of the Joint Safety and Training Institutes.
Since then, we have witnessed the arrogance of IBEW Union Bo$$ d’Arcy as he stonewalled Galperin’s reasonable request to audit the books and records of the trusts. In January, when Galperin subpoenaed the Union Bo$$ d’Arcy to hand over the financial information, the Bo$$ asked a judge to squash the subpoena. In April, he appealed the court ruling requiring that the trusts to comply with the subpoena.
In June, at a rally in front of DWP headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, Union Bo$$ d’Arcy threatened “trouble” if the City withheld the payment of almost $4 million to the trusts, implying that the new labor contract between DWP and union would be null and void.
But the spaghetti and meatballs really hit the fan in July when Galperin said that he could not in “good conscience” authorize the payment because he had “a duty to protect the public’s money” if the use of the Ratepayers money was “improper.”
At the same time, City Attorney Mike Feuer sued to have a court appointed receiver take control of these two “dysfunctional” nonprofits that were the “personal fiefdom” of Union Bo$$ d’Arcy.
After sitting on their butts for almost a year, in mid-August the City Council, ten of whom have received campaign contributions from Union Bo$$ d’Arcy, realized that this situation was spinning out of control and had jeopardized its ability to increase our taxes to fix our neglected streets and sidewalks. As damage control, Herb Wesson and six other members of the City Council introduced a motion that outlined 13 points as a basis for a settlement that would allow Galperin to authorize the $4 million payment if everything was kosher.
Three months later, after several false starts, the Letter of Agreement was finalized.
As a result, Galperin and Santana will have the right to conduct their “Audit” and “Performance and Operational Evaluation,” respectively, and will be given “unfettered access” to the Trusts’ documents. Furthermore, all litigation (other than the d’Arcy v. Galperin that involves future access to documents) will be dropped as will the Unfair Practices Claim and Grievance that were both filed on July 23 by the IBEW in retaliation to Galperin’s refusal to authorize payment and Feuer’s efforts to appoint a receiver.
We should expect the findings of Galperin and Santana within 120 days.
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The controversy swirling around the Joint Safety and Training Institutes is just one of the very many moving parts that define the relationship between the DWP, the IBEW, the City Council, and City Hall.
We have the proposed installation of utility built solar power that appears to be Measure B on steroids. The Power Reliability Program is a failure because of the Department’s inability to outsource critical work. The benchmarking of the Department’s operations and their relative efficiency to other regional utilities is still work in progress as is the comparison of salaries and benefits. There are also many restrictive work rules and overtime regulations that add to the Ratepayers’ burden.
Mayor Garcetti issued a press release where he said he "was elected with a mandate to reform the DWP, and for the past year, we've worked to bring transparency to these trusts and accountability for Ratepayers. With this agreement, the City can open the books and follow the money, which is what DWP customers deserve."
Unfortunately, Mr. Mayor, this is just the beginning of a long journey, not only for you, but the Ratepayers, one not made easier by the City Council that is in the pocket of Union Bo$$ d’Arcy.
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee, The Ratepayer Advocate for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, and a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. Humphreville is the publisher of the Recycler Classifieds -- www.recycler.com. He can be reached at: [email protected].)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 92
Pub: Nov 14, 2014