"Head of L.A.’s water and power utility steps down,"
October 2, 2009 from THE L.A. TIMES, "L.A. NOW" online blog, by Phil Willon and David Zahniser at L.A. City Hall.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/head-of-las-water-and-power-agency-steps-down.html
Nahai submitted a resignation letter that is four pages long and notes what his successes were, but the real problem is that he was put into DWP by Mayor Villaraigosa to do what would help the Mayor, not necessarily the public. Failing to see victory for the fraudulently promoted Solar Measure B at the polls, Nahai earned a big negative mark for that defeat and the rest of the problems continued to snowball. The recent times have shown problems with the rates at DWP and the costs to have employees work there compared to other city departments. The other problem was that the money generated by DWP was shifted off to go to the general fund of the city.
And then the water conservation program was not a joy to have applied if you live in the city. Add to this mix the unusual and serious problems of unusually frequent numbers of water mains breaking, and there's just not a good word to be said about DWP and in turn, it's GM, Nahai.
Villaraigosa selected Nahai for the job and now he's putting in David Freeman in place on a temporary basis until a new appointment can be decided upon. The job pays over $300,000.00 a year and Nahai was close to the upper limit of the pay range.
DWP has a lot of examples of what's wrong with government and with so much money sent over to the city general fund instead of improving the infrastructure. We see a city that cannot handle the current load, not to mention an unlikely prospect of meeting the needs of the super-growth that the Mayor and friends wants to push. This goes for most services in the city, including police and fire services.
With the exit of Nahai, don't expect there to be any changes to help the rest of us regular people. They still have lots of problems and there's a plan in progress that is a disguised Solar Measure B that was threatened to be pursued if it did not get approved at the polls. I am sure that's not all that is planned to cost residents and busnesses more in bills and less in quality of service.
Here's an LA Weekly story from December 2007 when Nahai was just installed, "Can David Nahai Keep the Lights On? L.A.’s man to watch in 2008. Talking water and power and history with the city’s new DWP head." Judith Lewis, published on December 27, 2007.
http://www.laweekly.com/2007-12-27/news/can-david-nahai-keep-the-lights-on/
BEST OF ALL the stories FOR LAST:
If you don't know much about the picture that Nahai was a part of, read a column by Ron Kaye to get the idea- and this was back in June 2008-
"Uncritically observed: David Nahai, the man who walks on water -- and power," By Ron Kaye on June 24, 2008, in http://www.ronkayela.com/
http://ronkayela.com/2008/06/every-story-needs-a-villain.html
And, like I said, it was inevitable that Nahai would have to go, and the time finally came, while the problems remain and increase.
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