Out of the Darkness

Delgadillo recognizes he may not have had a firm hand on the legal advice dispensed at the DWP. He has put special assistant city attorney Josh Pertulla in charge of watching over the DWP’s and the other proprietary departments’ legal advisers, and special assistant city attorney Anne Haley in charge of monitoring the service provided by outside attorneys. He says he would like his staff to be proactive and head off problems before they become lawsuits.

Yet the DWP is still a high-stakes client — and an unruly one at that. Recent history shows the DWP’s managers and legal advisers have preferred to sweep discrimination, harassment and retaliation lawsuits under the rug. “There is always the risk of being ‘captured by the client.’” Delgadillo says. “There’s always the potential for a tug of war. The ultimate check has to rest with the people.”

It could be hard to reform an old-boys’ culture at the DWP when upper management is comprised largely of men who grew up in it, whether or not they approved of it, or benefited from it. Anderson laughs nervously as she points to three high-level female managers, and says she’d like to turn the DWP into an “old-girl’s club.” For now, there is a group of managers who are not conditioned to bend to public concerns for decency in the treatment of workers. “If you ever go to a Board of Commissioners meeting, you will notice that the managers sit at this long conference table facing the commissioners — but with their backs to the audience,” Schlageter, the clean-air advocate says. “That, to me, says it all.”

The Good, the Mad, and the Mum

What Los Angeles’ City Council members are saying about racism, sexual harassment and retaliation against employees filing complaints at the DWP, and the city attorney’s use of secret settlements to cover this up:

Ed Reyes (District 1)

Did not return calls for comment.

Wendy Greuel (District 2)

“I worked for [former Mayor] Tom Bradley, and he fought to give individuals a chance. These allegations are disturbing. [Discrimination] settlements don’t come to the City Council. We are not informed, and maybe we should be. Proprietary departments need to know that [openness] is key.”

Dennis P. Zine (District 3)

“Every day we learn something new about DWP. I have faith in the system, but I sometimes question the people running it. We shouldn’t have to increase [water] rates to pay settlements because employees are being mistreated by management.”

Tom LaBonge (District 4)

“Tom does not like to comment on things like this. He likes to comment on positive things.”

Jack Weiss (District 5)

“The idea that there is something special about the DWP that requires additional secrecy doesn’t make sense. Someone said if we made the terms public, we would be looking at more lawsuits. That logic doesn’t fly. The fact that DWP is proprietary does not give it license to operate as a poorly run private company. It is still the public’s business.”

Tony Cardenas (District 6), chair of Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee

“We can’t use settlements as Band-Aids for systemic problems in any department. We need to get these claims on the record in the City Council in full purview of the public. It’s time we expand the scope so that taxpayers know how their money is being spent.”

Alex Padilla (District 7)

Would not comment.

Bernard Parks (District 8)

“You can educate people, train them, put policy out and discipline them. It doesn’t matter how many rules we create, there will be people who choose misconduct. But I don’t think settlements should be confidential from the City Council. I don’t think you should have that veil of secrecy because you are a proprietary department.”

Jan Perry (District 9)

Did not return calls.

Martin Ludlow (District 10)

Would not comment.

Cindy Miscikowski (District 11)

“I was shocked at the length of time these things were going on and the number of persons who were willing and able to tell a story. We need to know, what is the DWP’s record? How do they rank in comparison with other governmental entities? Proprietary departments are a whole other realm. We have to look into it.”

Greig Smith (District 12)

Did not return several calls for comment.

Eric Garcetti (District 13)

Declined comment.

Antonio Villaraigosa (District 14)

Did not return calls.

Janice Hahn (District 15)

Declined comment.