An update is going to air on KCET this Thursday night on KCET- channel 28, the PBS local station in Los Angeles. It will also be made available online after it airs. You may recall that the original show was about the way the DWP operates.
In today's L.A. City Council meeting, Council Member Dennis Zine called the DWP "an agency that's out of control." Zine said that "we are going to get it under control," as I paraphrase that last part. Other CMs jumped on that bandwagon to support Zine, but they can and do get carried away with themselves from time to time, and then, sometimes nothing more ever happens. At other times, to make matters worse, they do a complete turnaround on the position and vote FOR a bad motion, one that energizes the city-agency-turned-Terminator and off DWP goes to further victimize the customers, called "rate-payers" by them, as if that's making the financial pain more bearable.
The KCET show is called, "SoCal Connected," and this DWP item was recently presented as a segment of the program, revealling a lot about the DWP and it's operations, featuring Brian D'Arcy, President of the IBEW local union that represents nearly 90% of the DWP employees. D'Arcy, a seemingly jovial character is nonetheless responsible for doing a lot of pressuring to get his way, and he does it effectively. It is as effective as the council's and mayor's resistance is lame.
In today's L.A. City Council meeting, Council Member Dennis Zine called the DWP "an agency that's out of control." Zine said that "we are going to get it under control," as I paraphrase that last part. Other CMs jumped on that bandwagon to support Zine, but they can and do get carried away with themselves from time to time, and then, sometimes nothing more ever happens. At other times, to make matters worse, they do a complete turnaround on the position and vote FOR a bad motion, one that energizes the city-agency-turned-Terminator and off DWP goes to further victimize the customers, called "rate-payers" by them, as if that's making the financial pain more bearable.
The KCET show is called, "SoCal Connected," and this DWP item was recently presented as a segment of the program, revealling a lot about the DWP and it's operations, featuring Brian D'Arcy, President of the IBEW local union that represents nearly 90% of the DWP employees. D'Arcy, a seemingly jovial character is nonetheless responsible for doing a lot of pressuring to get his way, and he does it effectively. It is as effective as the council's and mayor's resistance is lame.
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I received an email about this upcoming show and here's the text of the attached press release:
I received an email about this upcoming show and here's the text of the attached press release:
‘SOCAL CONNECTED’ LOOKS INSIDE THE FIERCE FEUD OVER
RATE HIKES AT LADWP -- THE NATION’S LARGEST MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITY.EPISODE AIRS THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010
KCET’s Award-Winning News Program as Part of Primetime Line-up that Includes ‘Washington Week’ and ‘Bill Moyers’ Journal’ on Fridays at 8:30 PM, Plus Saturdays at 6:00 PM, and Sundays at 6:30 PM
Los Angeles, CA – April 13, 2010 – SoCal Connected takes a deeper look at what’s behind the bitter battle over DWP rate hikes. In late March the Mayor called for a hefty increase in electric rates. The City Council – uncharacteristically – rejected the hike. The DWP, in turn, is refusing to pay the cash-strapped City millions in fees. Why, in the middle of one of the worst budget crises in Los Angeles history, is the DWP immune to layoffs, cutbacks and furlough days? Why are other city workers losing their jobs, while the DWP biggest union is enjoying a 5-year pay raise? Why do they get raises when they are already paid more than other City workers? This week SoCal Connected Anchor Val Zavala updates her investigation into the City’s most powerful department, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
In a rare TV interview, Zavala talks with Brian D’Arcy, the powerful head of the electrical workers union (IBEW Local 18 which represents 9 out of 10 DWP employees). D’Arcy defends the pay deal, saying the higher salaries paid to DWP workers are merely the price of attracting talent in a competitive job sector.
Confronted with the complaints of angry ratepayers, he responds that “...generally how they feel is not relevant.”
SoCal Connected also spoke with former Interim General Manager S. David Freeman who echoed D’Arcy, arguing that D’Arcy is just doing a good job for his members. But that may be cold comfort to customers, most of whom have seen their DWP bills go up significantly. SoCal Connected also talks with a former DWP Commissioner who predicts that some L.A. residents will see their utility bills exceed their monthly mortgage.
Find out what's driving up utility costs. How much will going green cost us? And who's in the driver's seat at the LADWP? “The Price of Power” airs this Thursday, April 15 at 8:00 p.m.
Next, SoCal Connected Correspondent Angie Crouch peers into the future of California rail transportation in “Track to the Future?” In 2008, California residents approved $10 billion in bonds to jump-start a long-discussed high-speed rail system connecting Anaheim with San Francisco and points in between. Last January, Congress granted $8 billion for the high-speed rail project as part of President Obama's push to develop infrastructure and create jobs. But critics argue that the real-world costs exceed the projected benefits and communities along the planned route wonder what price they’ll be made to pay in quality of life.
In addition to airing on SoCal Connected, “Track to the Future?” will appear as part of PBS’ Blueprint America, a yearlong multi-platform initiative examining infrastructure issues throughout America and the world. The series and its companion Web site (www.pbs.org/blueprintamerica) consist of content produced by national PBS shows, local stations and original documentaries distributed nationally on PBS. Major support for Blueprint America is provided by The Rockefeller Foundation and The Surdna Foundation.
Then SoCal Connected Commentator Marcos Villatoro tries to make sense of the alphabet soup that appears on his DWP bill.
“The Price of Power” is reported by Val Zavala and produced by Karen Foshay. “Track to the Future?” is reported by Angie Crouch and produced by Saul Gonzalez. The Executive Producer of SoCal Connected is Bret Marcus. Anchor is Val Zavala.
SoCal Connected, recent winner of six Emmys, eight Golden Mikes, including Best News Public Affairs Show, five LA Press Club awards for journalism, recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best News Documentary, and Los Angeles Magazine’s “Best New Local TV Program” of 2009, airs Thursdays (8:00 – 8:30 p.m.), Fridays (8:30 – 9:00 p.m.), Saturdays (6:00 – 6:30 p.m.), and Sundays (6:30 – 7:00 p.m.) exclusively on KCET. For more information, to view episodes online or to post comments, please visit www.kcet.org/socal.
SoCal Connected is made possible through the generous support of The Ahmanson Foundation, serving the Los Angeles community since 1952; Jim and Anne Rothenberg; Linda and Abbott Brown; The Elizabeth Hofert-Dailey Trust; The John Randolph Haynes & Dora Haynes Foundation; The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, UCLA and U.S. Bank.
===========================================================================
There are quite a few Lincoln grads among the DWP employees and this may or may not show things that are anything new to you. And don't get me wrong on this criticism of the operations. Good for you for having such a vigorously supportive union. It's their job and they seem to adopt a "take no prisoners" kind of attitude when it comes to negotiations.
But a lot of financial problems we have are the result of the generous way the mayor and council members have been to the DWP. The only real negotiating skills that were shown when contracts were assembled were on the side of the IBEW.
After deals are done, the Mayor can sign off as Villaraigosa did for the contract worked out while Hahn was still mayor. This was in 2005.
The Mayor never really opposed anything DWP presented, and he had his own expensive ideas to throw in. All this chumminess has resulted in 5 yearly raised created that CITY COUNCIL approved in December 2009, as the city was sliding down the hill, nearing the bankruptcy ledge. Does that make any sense? Does the term "rubber stamp" ring a bell? Make that "$178,000.00 per year Rubber-stamps." (Note: next election for even-numbered CDs is in March 2011.)
So we have a lot of expenses connected to DWP in their confusing and big billings that keep growing.
The Mayor seems to have forgotten that there are quite a few million people he is supposed to be WORKING FOR. I think that there was something of an oath of office that he took but those are mere technicalities to him, as usual. Meanwhile, the Mayor, the City Council and the political appointees have ALL, until recently, worked to make DWP life pretty cozy, but it's all at the "rate payers" expense, and who cares about them? No one, for a long time it's been like that.
A lot of waste and abuse going on unchecked- I am not real certain of the fraud part of this trilogy of financial frolicking with taxpayer money, but I am sure we can locate some.
So all this current opposition to the DWP by City Council is not permanent and I suspect some is phony. You had one CM leave a meeting to avoid having a vote show either way on the DWP rate hike request. It's politics, I remind you. Like magicians, these politicians practice their trade using the art of distraction and re-directing attention while the real deed is done.
So, see the t.v. show on Thursday. See if the KCET report come down on the DWP or if they start to get a little too cozy with them on their own and turn into another show like Patt Morrison's with softball questions that skirt the real issues and leaves us no better informed than before.
As always, there's so much more to talk about with what's going on that's not on the up and up, and most of that is not even secret, but most of the people don't notice or don't care. Time to change that.
Los Angeles, CA – April 13, 2010 – SoCal Connected takes a deeper look at what’s behind the bitter battle over DWP rate hikes. In late March the Mayor called for a hefty increase in electric rates. The City Council – uncharacteristically – rejected the hike. The DWP, in turn, is refusing to pay the cash-strapped City millions in fees. Why, in the middle of one of the worst budget crises in Los Angeles history, is the DWP immune to layoffs, cutbacks and furlough days? Why are other city workers losing their jobs, while the DWP biggest union is enjoying a 5-year pay raise? Why do they get raises when they are already paid more than other City workers? This week SoCal Connected Anchor Val Zavala updates her investigation into the City’s most powerful department, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
In a rare TV interview, Zavala talks with Brian D’Arcy, the powerful head of the electrical workers union (IBEW Local 18 which represents 9 out of 10 DWP employees). D’Arcy defends the pay deal, saying the higher salaries paid to DWP workers are merely the price of attracting talent in a competitive job sector.
Confronted with the complaints of angry ratepayers, he responds that “...generally how they feel is not relevant.”
SoCal Connected also spoke with former Interim General Manager S. David Freeman who echoed D’Arcy, arguing that D’Arcy is just doing a good job for his members. But that may be cold comfort to customers, most of whom have seen their DWP bills go up significantly. SoCal Connected also talks with a former DWP Commissioner who predicts that some L.A. residents will see their utility bills exceed their monthly mortgage.
Find out what's driving up utility costs. How much will going green cost us? And who's in the driver's seat at the LADWP? “The Price of Power” airs this Thursday, April 15 at 8:00 p.m.
Next, SoCal Connected Correspondent Angie Crouch peers into the future of California rail transportation in “Track to the Future?” In 2008, California residents approved $10 billion in bonds to jump-start a long-discussed high-speed rail system connecting Anaheim with San Francisco and points in between. Last January, Congress granted $8 billion for the high-speed rail project as part of President Obama's push to develop infrastructure and create jobs. But critics argue that the real-world costs exceed the projected benefits and communities along the planned route wonder what price they’ll be made to pay in quality of life.
In addition to airing on SoCal Connected, “Track to the Future?” will appear as part of PBS’ Blueprint America, a yearlong multi-platform initiative examining infrastructure issues throughout America and the world. The series and its companion Web site (www.pbs.org/blueprintamerica) consist of content produced by national PBS shows, local stations and original documentaries distributed nationally on PBS. Major support for Blueprint America is provided by The Rockefeller Foundation and The Surdna Foundation.
Then SoCal Connected Commentator Marcos Villatoro tries to make sense of the alphabet soup that appears on his DWP bill.
“The Price of Power” is reported by Val Zavala and produced by Karen Foshay. “Track to the Future?” is reported by Angie Crouch and produced by Saul Gonzalez. The Executive Producer of SoCal Connected is Bret Marcus. Anchor is Val Zavala.
SoCal Connected, recent winner of six Emmys, eight Golden Mikes, including Best News Public Affairs Show, five LA Press Club awards for journalism, recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best News Documentary, and Los Angeles Magazine’s “Best New Local TV Program” of 2009, airs Thursdays (8:00 – 8:30 p.m.), Fridays (8:30 – 9:00 p.m.), Saturdays (6:00 – 6:30 p.m.), and Sundays (6:30 – 7:00 p.m.) exclusively on KCET. For more information, to view episodes online or to post comments, please visit www.kcet.org/socal.
SoCal Connected is made possible through the generous support of The Ahmanson Foundation, serving the Los Angeles community since 1952; Jim and Anne Rothenberg; Linda and Abbott Brown; The Elizabeth Hofert-Dailey Trust; The John Randolph Haynes & Dora Haynes Foundation; The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, UCLA and U.S. Bank.
===========================================================================
There are quite a few Lincoln grads among the DWP employees and this may or may not show things that are anything new to you. And don't get me wrong on this criticism of the operations. Good for you for having such a vigorously supportive union. It's their job and they seem to adopt a "take no prisoners" kind of attitude when it comes to negotiations.
But a lot of financial problems we have are the result of the generous way the mayor and council members have been to the DWP. The only real negotiating skills that were shown when contracts were assembled were on the side of the IBEW.
After deals are done, the Mayor can sign off as Villaraigosa did for the contract worked out while Hahn was still mayor. This was in 2005.
The Mayor never really opposed anything DWP presented, and he had his own expensive ideas to throw in. All this chumminess has resulted in 5 yearly raised created that CITY COUNCIL approved in December 2009, as the city was sliding down the hill, nearing the bankruptcy ledge. Does that make any sense? Does the term "rubber stamp" ring a bell? Make that "$178,000.00 per year Rubber-stamps." (Note: next election for even-numbered CDs is in March 2011.)
So we have a lot of expenses connected to DWP in their confusing and big billings that keep growing.
The Mayor seems to have forgotten that there are quite a few million people he is supposed to be WORKING FOR. I think that there was something of an oath of office that he took but those are mere technicalities to him, as usual. Meanwhile, the Mayor, the City Council and the political appointees have ALL, until recently, worked to make DWP life pretty cozy, but it's all at the "rate payers" expense, and who cares about them? No one, for a long time it's been like that.
A lot of waste and abuse going on unchecked- I am not real certain of the fraud part of this trilogy of financial frolicking with taxpayer money, but I am sure we can locate some.
So all this current opposition to the DWP by City Council is not permanent and I suspect some is phony. You had one CM leave a meeting to avoid having a vote show either way on the DWP rate hike request. It's politics, I remind you. Like magicians, these politicians practice their trade using the art of distraction and re-directing attention while the real deed is done.
So, see the t.v. show on Thursday. See if the KCET report come down on the DWP or if they start to get a little too cozy with them on their own and turn into another show like Patt Morrison's with softball questions that skirt the real issues and leaves us no better informed than before.
As always, there's so much more to talk about with what's going on that's not on the up and up, and most of that is not even secret, but most of the people don't notice or don't care. Time to change that.
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