Committee Wants DWP Watchdog Agency's Analysis Sent to City

A motion to require that the Board of Water and Power Commissioners review an independent ratepayer advocate’s report was approved Tuesday by a City Council committee. 

Freshman Councilman Mitch Englander authored the motion on his first day in office. It instructs the DWP to consider the report by the Office of Public Accountability (OPA), a watchdog agency that voters approved in March. It also asks that the report be submitted to the Council and mayor when a new water and power rate proposal is approved by the Board.

The Energy and Environment Committee unanimously approved Englander’s motion, although it requested that the wording be altered to clarify that the ratepayer advocate’s report be sent to City Council members as soon as it is submitted.

Councilman Richard Alarcón expressed concern during the committee meeting that the motion was redundant, and that the Council should already have access to the report.

 “We should have access to that report before or whenever we want to,” he said.

Nicole Bernson, Englander’s deputy chief of staff, said that the motion seeks to package the report with the Council’s own independent third-party analysis, which was established under a motion by former Councilman Greig Smith in 2004.

The independent reviewer is hired by the city when a proposed rate increase is announced. The report is sent to the City Council and mayor if the Board approves the DWP’s proposed rates. Englander’s motion seeks to add the ratepayer advocate’s analysis to this process.

“The important aspect of this is it does create an additional tool,” said Bernson. “It provides greater transparency.”

Councilman Tony Cárdenas, who represents an area that includes a portion of North Hollywood, agreed with this statement. 

“What I see is more transparency and more analysis,” he said. “There’s nothing redundant about this.”

Councilwoman Jan Perry, who chairs the committee, said that she expects to see many more motions related to the Office of Public Accountability before it is established.

These motions will create a “work plan” to guide the ratepayer advocate, she said.

The City Council approved last month an ordinance just to create the five-member committee that will select the executive director of the OPA. They have less than a month to nominate the members, two of whom will be selected by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. City Council President Eric Garcetti and Perry will pick the remaining members.