The NC Task Force consists of stakeholders throughout
L.A. representing most of the neighborhood councils in the City.
What does this mean for you? Your Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council
is on top of the issues that affect you the most, including making
sure that those precious City services are uniformly available to
our community. This all started more than 12 months ago, when the
DWP wanted that 18% rate hike, and STNC, along with a few other
neighborhood councils, went to City Council asking "why?"
STNC is working for you.
Posted 6-21-06 p.m.
DWP Board Approves LADWP Budget – Rate Approvals
Pending - LADWP Budget Approved
On June 20, 2006, the Board of Water and Power Commissioners
approved LADWP's 2006-07 budget. The budget must be approved before
the end of the fiscal year which is June 30, 2006.
LADWP's budget is a financial planning document
that includes anticipated revenues and expenses. As a planning
document the actual revenues are subject to change based upon
several factors which includes whether the proposed power and
water rate actions are approved by the Board, City Council, and
Mayor. The Board's approval of the budget does not mean that the
proposed power and water rate actions have already been approved.
Rate Actions Pending
The Board anticipates considering the proposed power
and water rate actions during its public meetings in mid-to-late
July 2006.
LADWP will be transmitting all of the Neighborhood
Council resolutions / letters that LADWP has received to the Board
for their review and consideration.
The City Council and Mayor will consider the proposed
power and water rate actions after the Board has taken action.
Note: If your NC would like to submit a resolution
regarding the proposed rate increases, you can either:
email it to:
Neighborhood.Newswire@ladwp.com
or mail it to:
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Attn: Robert K. Rozanski (NC Resolution re: Rates)
P.O. Box 51111, Room 1536
Los Angeles, CA 90051
If you have any questions, please feel free to call
Paul T. Wang, Lead Liaison to the NCs at (213) 367-1327
or Greg Bartz at (213) 367-2800.
Notification of LADWP's Remaining Community Meetings
Regarding Its Proposed Power and Water Rate Actions
LADWP General Manager Ron Deaton and his executive
team members will be holding two additional community meetings
on the proposed power and water rate actions as follows
West LA
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Westchester Senior Citizen Center
8740 Lincoln Boulevard, Los Angeles
East LA
Thursday, June 29, 2006
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
El Sereno Senior Citizen Center
4818 Klamath Place, Los Angeles
These meetings will conclude the series of community
meetings that LADWP has held on the proposed rate actions in the
Valley, Harbor, South LA, and Central areas along with the two
public workshops recently held at the Congress of Neighborhoods.
It is anticipated that the Board of Water and Power Commissioners
will be taking action on the proposed power and water rate actions
in mid-to-late July of 2006.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call
Paul T. Wang, Lead Liaison to the NCs at (213) 367-1327 or Greg
Bartz at (213) 367-2800.
Great News! On April 5, 2005, a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) is Item 14 on the Board of Water and Power Commissioners
Agenda: The resolution will be authorizing the execution of an
Intra City Memorandum of Understanding with certified neighborhood
councils, which includes a variety of educational components,
communication goals and notification requirements to neighborhood
councils. The initial term of the MOU is two years.
This 15-month journey of conversation and negotiation
with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) commenced
in early 2004. Your Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council was certified
by the Bureau of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) in May 2003.
On December 13, 2003, the first election of the newly certified
Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council was held. The new council
was sworn in in January 2004, and the individuals you chose to
represent you hit the ground running.
History: At the February 3, 2004 hearing
of the Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee (CENR),
6 Neighborhood Council representatives were present and 12 people
spoke in opposition to LADWP’s requested two-phase 11% and
7% rate increases. Jim Alger (Northridge West NC), Ken Draper
(Mid-City West NC), Rusty Millar (Silverlake NC), Kevin Singer
(Mid City NC), Louise Stone (Sunland Tujunga NC), and Brady Westwater
(Downtown NC) testified before the CENR. When Committee members
Tony Cardenas and Janice Hahn echoed the NC’s complaints
about the DWP’s lack of contact with Neighborhood Councils,
or DONE, DWP representatives stated that informational mailings
had been performed and that DWP had made its "best effort"
to communicate the pending rate increases and basis for same.
At subsequent public hearings before the CENR and
the full City Council 34 Neighborhood Councils were prepared to
formally oppose the pending rate increases. DWP and the City Council
heard us.
On Saturday morning, Marsh 20, 2004, Jerry Gewe
(then LADWP’s assistant general manager and chief operating
officer-Water System) and Jim McDaniel (Gewe’s successor)
executed a Letter of Intent (to negotiate a MOU), and the dialogue
among NCs and LADWP formally began.
Over 50 meetings in 15 months, the NCs and LADWP
have formed a bond that not one of us could have imagined. Never
again will any rate change or other significant change in the
operation of the LADWP take place without the voice of Neighborhood
Councils being heard.
As described in Article IX of the Los Angeles City
Charter, the 2004 Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council took our
stakeholders’ - that’s you - concerns to the City Council,
and took action. The 2005 Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council
(elected December 11, 2004) continued that action with equal fervor.
Today. The NC Taskforce, NC City Attorney Gwen Poindexter,
Ronald Deaton, LADWP General Manager, and the LADWP City Attorney
met on Friday, March 25, 2005. At that meeting, the final version
of the MOU was unilaterally approved by the NC Taskforce and Ron
Deaton, LADWP General Manager. Your NCs finally saw the fruits
of their labors.
On March 28, 2005, the NC Taskforce went into high
gear to put the total MOU packet together to send out to all 85
Neighborhood Councils. That monumental project completed, we then
hand-delivered similar packets to the Mayor, the City Council
(15), Rocky Delgadillo (City Attorney), Laura Chick (City Controller),
Greg Nelson (General Manager of DONE, who oversees all Neighborhood
Councils) and the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (7).
But there is no rest yet! The NC Taskforce requested
placement on the April 5, 2005 Agenda for the Education and Neighborhood
(ENN) Committee. We will be splitting our attention between the
ENN and Water Commissioner hearings that day. The Taskforce is
planning a media event for the roll-out of the MOU but are unsure
of timing with the two separate meetings. Plus, the MOU packet
has been released to the press. The Daily News and Los Angeles
Times ran articles on March 31, 2005.
Now that you know one of the things your Sunland
Tujunga Neighborhood Council has been working on for the past
15 months, come to our meetings (at Mt. Gleason Middle School,
2nd Wednesday of each month, 7:00 pm) and take the road with us
to our next project.
The final copy of the unsigned MOU document is 15
pages - click here to download
in PDF format. A 3-page summary* is also available click
here to download in PDF format.
If we may add, our Councilwoman Wendy Greuel has
been most supportive of STNC and the NC Taskforce in negotiating
with LADWP.
All of us are most proud of this accomplishment
but are not resting yet - we have your issue to probe. Bring your
issue (and your neighbors) to our next meeting. Let’s talk
about it.
