There's some strange goings on in City Hall, and of course, none of it is good for the consumer, the city resident or just plain regular person. Yesterday, the City Council voted to approve the rate hikes that were passed over by the DWP in their apparent power play at the end of March.So the DWP- a utility company owned by the city- is getting "surpluses" of money every year that it passes over to the city, now in the sum of $220 million a year, but they continue to raise rates for all of us. The money was passed over to the city earlier this year but only in a partial payment, not the whole $220 million.
And now the money is needed since it's been counted in the budget calculations, and it's obviously important. When the DWP did not get the rate hikes proposal that they changed upward from the City's amount, by the way, this payment of $73.5 million was withheld.
Funny, but the money transfer was not supposed to depend on the passage of the rate hike, but everyone started to play games and the DWP could not begin to collect the rate hikes beginning in April like it had planned since that city council-approved rate was rejected as DWP instead upped the requested hike. So, with everything rejected, there's NO rate increase currently in effect and the retribution activities began.
After that, the earliest that any rate increase could happen is July 1, 2010. So the DWP went for the big rate hike and came away eompletely empty.
YESTERDAY'S COUNCIL ANTICS
The Council president, Garcetti, came in at the end of the meeting with a "special one" that was not on the agenda and that was presented to a nearly empty Council Chambers, since it was getting late, after 3pm, and adjournment was right arount the corner.
President Garcetti said that the matter was some sort of emergency, justiying the immediate action of the council. Jan Perry, who is against the DWP's slippery moves on the numbers, voiced her concern about why this is now presented. Garcetti was as joyful as a kid on Christmas morning seeing a tree loaded with gifts all around it. He said that 5 others on the Council agreed this was important to do.
Garcetti was told by Dion O'Connell, the Dep. City Attorney assigned to the Council, that it did no appear to be an emergency and should go under other proceduures, but he was overruled in his advice and the council took a vote to hear this. It was opened up and before the council could take a vote
So it was a simple rate hike of the same size that was kicked over by the DWP last month. And this hike could not be operative until July 1st so what's the "urgency" that's here?
Apparently, it was a set up situation supposed to get quietly approved, and with all the audience gone, no one could cause problems. But one guy was still there for another item and made a request to reject the proposed action to raise DWP fees. An excellent presentation that would tell anyone of a sensible mind set that a rejection was called for and that the process was irregular and probably violating the law, the Brown Act's open meeting and public comment requirements, as well as the time frame for advance notice of posting an agenda.
This whole thing was so wrong and Garcetti set this up with a special group of Council members.
The council still ignored the public comment, but Wayne's presentation in two minutes was one of the most effective ones I and many others have heard, especially without note or even advance notice of the topic.
RON KAYE L.A. today covers this.
http://www.ronkayela.com/ takes City Council to task on this and has that two minute clip on his site.
I have to put that here since so much is right with what was said, and so much is wrong with what was done by Council members, at least the ones who voted "Yes" on this.
There are few other extracts on video that you can see on Ron Kaye's blog.
It looks like the Garcetti-led action to bypass any scrutiny by the public was done to give the DWP the rate hike that Garcetti just about guaraneed less than two weeks ago in one of his slickster make-amends speeches. What about the public's right to participate? Eric is getting as bad as his boss and personal leader, Antonio Villaraigosa.
I heard Eric speak at a meeting in Glassell Park a few weeks ago and he give a friendly presentation but the content is what is so objectionable. I never got to my list of questions in the few minutes left for that part of the meeting, but he has some very strong views that will cost the taxpayers a lot more than needs to be levied. He's not at all aware of any other views that "make sense" that could possibly stand up to what HE wants to see done.
A career politician is like this. And there's lots of them.
See the Ron Kay column today and check the video clips of the meeting to see how easily the Council members move ahead despite any notions of fairness or clear compliance with the law.
The big question: How is approval of a rate hike that will not happen until July 1, 2010 "an emergency" that can't wait to properly appear on the agenda or go through some alternative processes required before a vote can be taken?
The words "done deal," "set up," "a fix," "backroom deals" and "circumventing the rules" come to mind- and I wonder how much time Tony and Eric spoke about this charade of a process to get this done.
Today, the DWP commission will meet at 4 pm and decide to take this deal or not. Garcetti and Matt Szabo, the mayor's chief or assistant chief of staff, already treats this as accepted by DWP, so you know there's a lot of behind-the-scenes action going on.
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A council 245 motion can be made to have the matter re-visited with 10 council votes which would be an opportunity to turn back this action. Hard to imagine more CMs than now objecting getting courage to fight this; many of them WANT rate hikes. I would include Cardenas and Alarcon as the prime examples of that. They both talk about concerns for poor and low-income people but it's all for show when the heavy duty decisons go completely against that sort of stand.
REMEMBER, The even numbered council districts will be having elections in March 2010- expect those candidates to try to look good to be re-elected but see what's really being done for the proof here. (In yesteday's action a 10-2 vote hapened to allow the matter to be opened before the vote on the actual content could proceed.
If anyone really would voice a stand it would have been propery done then to shut this whole thing down then and there and force a regular treatment to happen. But only 2 voted against it. Jan Perry and Dennis Zine voted NO then. On the rate hike itself, Zine, Parks, Perry, Krekorian, and I believe, LaBonge joined them in voting "NO."
Friday is the next council meeting and unless somebody calls for another emergency meeting tonight after DWP official approves acceptance, that will be the next time the public can sound off.
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