Columnist Alan Mittlesteadt, from LA City Beat, says that David Nahai, the mayor's candidate for DWP Gen Mgr. is no match for IBEW 18's Brian D'arcy
"The mayor so badly wants a strong ally running the agency that he’s willing to feed this talented man to the DWP beasts."
"Get this straight, David Nahai is no match for Brian D’Arcy, the boss of the most powerful union in town, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18. The union represents 90 percent of the DWP’s workforce and pretty much owns the place, including management. D’Arcy will eat Nahai’s lunch. D’Arcy’s gone untamed by more powerful general managers and couldn’t be caged by two mayors. This guy’s got so much pull that he won an 18 to 30 percent pay raise for his workers during the transition from Mayor Hahn to Mayor Ambition. To this day, neither Hahn nor Mayor Ambition will say the raise went down on their watch. What we know for sure is that D’Arcy’s union fed $307,000 into Mayor Ambition’s campaign fund in 2005, and that ratepayers are now stuck with covering the tab for the stealth raise."
"Nahai, an Iranian-American who speaks in a patrician accent, earned strong credentials as a fighter for green power. But somehow we’re supposed to think that his on-the-premises learning experience as a volunteer DWP commissioner for two years prepares him to lead the deeply troubled and byzantine empire of the DWP, the largest public utility in the country. Does Yoga prepare someone to become a guard at Pelican Bay? Nahai’s green credentials are impressive, but the DWP instead needs a Green Beret to make the utility receptive to democracy."
http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=6415&IssueNum=230
"Joe Ramallo, city spokesperson says that four of the past six department GMs were promoted out of the DWP ranks or worked elsewhere for the city. Over the past 25 years, Ramallo figures, nine out of 12 permanent or interim GMs came out of the DWP or another city department."(From LA Observed blog)
An article about Ron Deaton’s resignation (for health reasons) & speculation about who would be his successor (before the mayor’s announcement)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-deaton27oct27,1,6316765.story
Friday, November 2, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Leader Virginia Franklin speaks at King Drew hearing
Still pleading for a revival of South L.A. hospital
By Susanna Rosenblatt
Virginia leads the story:
"South Los Angeles activist Virginia Franklin wept before Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday, recalling how her mother, a psychiatric nursing professor, would bring her students to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center to train.Holding her 5-month-old nephew Kelly, Franklin asked the four board members present, "When he wants to go to school, where's he going to do his internship?"'(October 31, 2007)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-king31oct31,1,6077519.story
Local Manufacturing Industry profiled
L.A. County tops in factory jobs
Businesses have many reasons to leave, but a skilled labor pool helps retain many of them.
By Walter Hamilton
October 23, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bizeconomy23oct23,1,3716162.story?track=rss
Despite the decrease in manufacturing overall, manufacturing is still an important part of the local economy. L.A.'s competitive advantage lies with its highly-skilled labor force and proximity to harbors. The local manufacturing industry challenges are the cost of land, lack of zoned industrial land/low vacancy rate, overregulation and the lower cost of producing goods overseas.
Taken by itself, Southern California's manufacturing base would rank third among states, after California as a whole and Texas. Los Angeles County is the nation's largest manufacturing center, with 462,300 jobs, topping Chicago by more than 72,000.
Manufacturing generally churns out well-paid middle-class jobs with good benefits, especially in Southern California, which often tends to have higher-skilled positions, experts say. The top sector in Los Angeles County, for example, is computers and electronic products, the economic group said.
Businesses have many reasons to leave, but a skilled labor pool helps retain many of them.
By Walter Hamilton
October 23, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bizeconomy23oct23,1,3716162.story?track=rss
Despite the decrease in manufacturing overall, manufacturing is still an important part of the local economy. L.A.'s competitive advantage lies with its highly-skilled labor force and proximity to harbors. The local manufacturing industry challenges are the cost of land, lack of zoned industrial land/low vacancy rate, overregulation and the lower cost of producing goods overseas.
Taken by itself, Southern California's manufacturing base would rank third among states, after California as a whole and Texas. Los Angeles County is the nation's largest manufacturing center, with 462,300 jobs, topping Chicago by more than 72,000.
Manufacturing generally churns out well-paid middle-class jobs with good benefits, especially in Southern California, which often tends to have higher-skilled positions, experts say. The top sector in Los Angeles County, for example, is computers and electronic products, the economic group said.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
City Unions Reach Tentative Deal
SEIU 721, AFSCME 36 International Union of Operating Engineers Local 501; Laborers Local 777; Los Angeles/Orange County Building & Construction Trades Council; and Teamsters Local 911 reached tentative deal with City. They were trying to get a salary hike to reach DWP pay levels, but fell short, garnering a 13% pay hike instead of 20%. There will be a 28% raise over 5 years. The contract will be radified this month (October)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-unions2oct02,1,533521.story?coll=la-headlines-california
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_7057135
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-unions2oct02,1,533521.story?coll=la-headlines-california
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_7057135
Extending Phone Tax on Feb 5th Ballot
City Council, 11-2, authorized ballot language to be drawn up for a measure that would be placed before voters Feb. 5, the same day as the California presidential primary. San Fernando Valley Councilmen Zine & Smith were the only ones to vote no on the tax.
The city currently gets $270M from the 10% phone tax on cell and land lines and wants residents to continue paying the tax.
The council will declare an "emergency" on Oct 17th, which would put the tax on the ballot while complying with Proposition 218, a 1996 state initiative that governs municipal tax increases. That measure prohibits the city from taking a tax to voters before a regularly scheduled municipal election unless it declares an emergency. For Los Angeles, the next regular election will not come until 2009. Anti-Tax organizations disagree with the "emergency"designation saying that it applies to earthquakes, etc.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tax4oct04,1,5956849.story
The city currently gets $270M from the 10% phone tax on cell and land lines and wants residents to continue paying the tax.
The council will declare an "emergency" on Oct 17th, which would put the tax on the ballot while complying with Proposition 218, a 1996 state initiative that governs municipal tax increases. That measure prohibits the city from taking a tax to voters before a regularly scheduled municipal election unless it declares an emergency. For Los Angeles, the next regular election will not come until 2009. Anti-Tax organizations disagree with the "emergency"designation saying that it applies to earthquakes, etc.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tax4oct04,1,5956849.story
More DWP news (rates increase, trouble from anti-tax groups)
Water Rate increase pending
This week (Oct 2), DWP approved another round of water-rate increases: 3.1 percent next July to raise about $23 million and another 3.1 percent hike in July 2009 to add $24.6 million to utility coffers. Power-rate increases also were approved and await action by the City Council and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Money from the water hikes is expected to generate about $100 million to cover the cost of replacing aging pipelines, repairing environmental damage in the Owens Valley - the source of most of the city's water - and covering open reservoirs to meet water-quality requirements.
LA City wants $$ from DWP to fund a broader range of city services, but anti-tax groups disagree
On the heels of this news, the Daily News reported that back in April, the city wants to transfer funds from the water revenue fund to the city's reserve fund -- where it can be used for a broader range of services.
The City Council adopted an ordinance to move the $29.9 million from the water-revenue fund to the city's reserve fund Feb. 21. It was approved by Villaraigosa on March 5. On April 9, the city filed a "complaint for validation", which was intended to be a "pre-emptive strike" in case someone challenges the city's attempt to transfer the funds. If the court rules in the city's favor, DWP will proceed with the revenue transfers
However, conservative anti-tax groups (Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn) want to challenge the city and filed a response to the city's complaint. They say that the transfer of excess funds mean that the DWP is over charging people to put money into the city's coffers -- and this means that this is a tax.
DWP commissioner David Nahai supports the transfer. He says that the water fund is the equivalent of a franchise fee that other cities commonly charge utilities. "The transfer has historically been made from the DWP to the city. It's a decades-old practice. Others pay a franchise fee to the city. ... It's a very common practice," he said. He also says that if the fund transfer is denied, there won't be a rate decrease.
In June, the DWP board adopted a $4 billion budget that includes a five-year, $1 billion upgrade program for the utility, along with the rate increases.
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_7077222?source=email
This week (Oct 2), DWP approved another round of water-rate increases: 3.1 percent next July to raise about $23 million and another 3.1 percent hike in July 2009 to add $24.6 million to utility coffers. Power-rate increases also were approved and await action by the City Council and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Money from the water hikes is expected to generate about $100 million to cover the cost of replacing aging pipelines, repairing environmental damage in the Owens Valley - the source of most of the city's water - and covering open reservoirs to meet water-quality requirements.
LA City wants $$ from DWP to fund a broader range of city services, but anti-tax groups disagree
On the heels of this news, the Daily News reported that back in April, the city wants to transfer funds from the water revenue fund to the city's reserve fund -- where it can be used for a broader range of services.
The City Council adopted an ordinance to move the $29.9 million from the water-revenue fund to the city's reserve fund Feb. 21. It was approved by Villaraigosa on March 5. On April 9, the city filed a "complaint for validation", which was intended to be a "pre-emptive strike" in case someone challenges the city's attempt to transfer the funds. If the court rules in the city's favor, DWP will proceed with the revenue transfers
However, conservative anti-tax groups (Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn) want to challenge the city and filed a response to the city's complaint. They say that the transfer of excess funds mean that the DWP is over charging people to put money into the city's coffers -- and this means that this is a tax.
DWP commissioner David Nahai supports the transfer. He says that the water fund is the equivalent of a franchise fee that other cities commonly charge utilities. "The transfer has historically been made from the DWP to the city. It's a decades-old practice. Others pay a franchise fee to the city. ... It's a very common practice," he said. He also says that if the fund transfer is denied, there won't be a rate decrease.
In June, the DWP board adopted a $4 billion budget that includes a five-year, $1 billion upgrade program for the utility, along with the rate increases.
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_7077222?source=email
DWP salaries online!
The Daily news is going after DWP by creating a public database that shows the salaries of all DWP employees..
General Manager, Ron Deaton: $344K/yr
"Editor's Note: If you read only one story today, I hope it will be this one. The DWP's bloated salaries, poor management and soaring rates are the most glaring example of what's wrong with Los Angeles city government. We think this is so important we've put up the salaries of all 8,500 employees at dailynews.com. See how your pay compares with theirs. --Ron Kaye, editor"
http://lang.dailynews.com/socal/ladwpsalaries/
General Manager, Ron Deaton: $344K/yr
"Editor's Note: If you read only one story today, I hope it will be this one. The DWP's bloated salaries, poor management and soaring rates are the most glaring example of what's wrong with Los Angeles city government. We think this is so important we've put up the salaries of all 8,500 employees at dailynews.com. See how your pay compares with theirs. --Ron Kaye, editor"
http://lang.dailynews.com/socal/ladwpsalaries/
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
CRA's right-left split
"Divided agency guides L.A. growth"
Sept 4, 2007
David Zahniser
Los Angeles Times
[key portions of article below]
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's volunteer boards and commissioners typically act in unison, voting unanimously on most of the big issues. But at the redevelopment agency, the mayor's appointees have been increasingly at odds over a variety of philosophical issues: how to preserve affordable housing, how much to demand from developers, even what a project should look like.
At its most basic level, the commission has two distinct camps: three pro-business members who favor the free market and three left-leaning members who aren't afraid to demand new, sometimes unprecedented concessions from developers on behalf of renters and low-wage workers.
Becky Dennison, co-director of the nonprofit Community Action Network, said the redevelopment agency for too long ignored downtown's poorest residents, razing their homes to build glitzy new projects. That changed, she said, with the addition of Joan Ling, a provider of affordable housing; John Perez, political director of United Food and Commercial Workers in Orange County; and Madeline Janis, who heads the L.A. Alliance for a New Economy, a group focused on improving the incomes of low-wage workers.
Commissioner President William Jackson makes up the pro-business bloc with architect Alejandro Ortiz and Bruce Ackerman, a San Fernando Valley business advocate.
The new board was seated in November 2005. A month later, the commission's left wing showed it was willing to push for more "community benefits," concessions ranging from job training to new low-income housing. While Bernard Parks and the Central City Assn. feel that the CRA is an obstacle to economic investments, low-income housing advocates are supportive of the commission's left voting bloc.
No one knows what will happen when Villaraigosa's newest commissioner, Natalie Cole, publisher of Our Weekly, joins the seven-member panel on Thursday, filling a seat that has been vacant for much of the year.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cra4sep04,0,4858878,full.story?coll=la-tot-callocal
Sept 4, 2007
David Zahniser
Los Angeles Times
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's volunteer boards and commissioners typically act in unison, voting unanimously on most of the big issues. But at the redevelopment agency, the mayor's appointees have been increasingly at odds over a variety of philosophical issues: how to preserve affordable housing, how much to demand from developers, even what a project should look like.
At its most basic level, the commission has two distinct camps: three pro-business members who favor the free market and three left-leaning members who aren't afraid to demand new, sometimes unprecedented concessions from developers on behalf of renters and low-wage workers.
Becky Dennison, co-director of the nonprofit Community Action Network, said the redevelopment agency for too long ignored downtown's poorest residents, razing their homes to build glitzy new projects. That changed, she said, with the addition of Joan Ling, a provider of affordable housing; John Perez, political director of United Food and Commercial Workers in Orange County; and Madeline Janis, who heads the L.A. Alliance for a New Economy, a group focused on improving the incomes of low-wage workers.
Commissioner President William Jackson makes up the pro-business bloc with architect Alejandro Ortiz and Bruce Ackerman, a San Fernando Valley business advocate.
The new board was seated in November 2005. A month later, the commission's left wing showed it was willing to push for more "community benefits," concessions ranging from job training to new low-income housing. While Bernard Parks and the Central City Assn. feel that the CRA is an obstacle to economic investments, low-income housing advocates are supportive of the commission's left voting bloc.
No one knows what will happen when Villaraigosa's newest commissioner, Natalie Cole, publisher of Our Weekly, joins the seven-member panel on Thursday, filling a seat that has been vacant for much of the year.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cra4sep04,0,4858878,full.story?coll=la-tot-callocal
Monday, August 20, 2007
Welcome!
Welcome to the new CIPHER blog! We'll put useful news articles, research tidbits and other info on this site. Please come back and visit the site as we will try and post regularly!
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