Let the Wright Confirmation Hearings be an Opportunity for Real LADWP Reform

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GUEST COMMENTARY-After Marcie Edwards announced her retirement as General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Mayor Garcetti chose the department's Chief Operating Officer, David Wright, to replace her. 

Wright, who is currently serving as Interim General Manager, was an obvious choice in some respects. His experience in public utilities is deep. 

But DWP is a department with serious problems. Its workers and management are compensated significantly more than other city employees or other similar employees around the country. DWP is the eighth worst public utility in the United States, in terms of consumer satisfaction. 

Is Wright the best choice to lead DWP into its next era? Will he be the leader who can reform one of the city's most inefficient and hated institutions? The answers to those questions are unclear. 

Wright will need to be confirmed by the LA City Council in order to serve as permanent GM. This is a real opportunity for the Council to show their constituents they take DWP reform seriously. All too often the Council has served as a rubber stamp for the Mayor's policies and decisions. That can‘t happen here. 

Wright's track record and plans to improve the department need to be carefully scrutinized. He needs to honestly and thoroughly address five areas of questions.                                                                                                          

How is he planning to overhaul the massive bureaucracy of DWP to work for its ratepayers rather than its union and management? What are his plans for the department’s workforce numbers and future collective bargaining agreements? 

How will he increase the department's use of renewable energy and decrease its dependence on coal fired power plants? 

How will DWP respond to the drought if it continues another five years? Ten years? How can we continue to meet water reduction targets? 

What is his plan to improve customer satisfaction? How will he convince the public to trust DWP management? 

Finally, what can the City Council, the Mayor, and public expect in terms of a timeline for reform? What are the metrics and benchmarks he will use to measure success? 

This confirmation process should be a vigorous and thoughtful debate. No 15-0 vote after a one day hearing. No rubber stamping. This is serious, and it's an opportunity the City Council should not pass up.

 

(Mitchell Schwartz is candidate for Los Angeles Mayor 2017.) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.