Bernard Parks v. Forescee Hogan-Rowles

Freeman tells the Weekly he personally told Hogan-Rowles that the mayor's office wanted her to step down from the DWP's Retirement Board, but she was "offended" and refused to leave until someone higher up — Freeman says it was not the mayor himself — orchestrated her departure.

Freeman, who previously headed the DWP and then returned as Villaraigosa's interim DWP general manager, says the mayor's office didn't believe Hogan-Rowles had broken the law, but Freeman and others didn't want the vulnerability of "someone in a position who might be accused, with some validity, with conflict of interest."

Freeman adds: "We took care of it very quietly, we thought," and he doesn't believe a formal complaint was made to the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.

At a minimum, Freeman says, Hogan-Rowles' actions had the "appearance of a conflict" and that "on the face of it, it doesn't look good at all."

Hogan-Rowles hits back at Freeman for criticizing her, saying it has more to do with the fact that she didn't support his elevation to interim general manager — and she plays the race card, declaring that she "didn't like his track record with women, with African-American women."

She says she believed she was removed from the DWP retirement board in 2009 only as part of a broader mayoral shakeup of other retirement boards whose appointees came under fire for the way they oversaw police and fire pensions.

Her nonprofit was created in post-riots 1993 as L.A.'s first public-private partnership among banks, the city and community leaders; it was intended to increase investment opportunities in South Los Angeles. She is paid more than $100,000 as CFRC's president and CEO.

IBEW's D'Arcy today refers to her as a "trailblazer."

But Freeman doesn't think D'Arcy took much notice of Hogan-Rowles when she was a city utilities commissioner. "I didn't know [D'Arcy] even fooled around with commissioners," Freeman says. "He uses his money with council people and mayors. I never heard of him being involved with members of the board."

Patsaouras agrees, saying, "I don't think Brian [D'Arcy] knew she was there, other than that she didn't challenge him."

Hogan-Rowles provided a clear political contrast to Parks, telling the Weekly she believes there is a better way to trim the budget than to reduce the city's 37,000-person workforce.

She touts the budget approach at the DWP, saying, "We went line by line item." The City Council uses the same method, yet she says, "I'm not sure they've done that. ... With the current Budget and Finance chair [her opponent, Parks], he continues to offer what we can't do" — cuts in the city worker ranks.

Parks responds that Hogan-Rowles is being used as a puppet by ego-driven union leaders vested in ousting him. "What does she mean (she) won't balance the budget on the backs of city employees? Ninety-three percent of the budget is employees. She has no clue. She says things to ingratiate herself to the unions, but none of it makes sense when you look at the issues before us."

IBEW Local 18, which represents more than 8,600 DWP employees, has contributed $300,000, and IBEW Local 11’s political action committee another $50,000, to Working Californians to Support Forescee Hogan-Rowles for City Council 2011. The Alliance to Support Forescee Hogan-Rowles for City Council 2011 has received $155,000 from the L.A. County Federation of Labor and $150,000 from SEIU Local 721 CTW-CLC Workers’ Strength Committee.

The committees operate independently of her campaign, and have spent a sizable $426,000 for mailers, phone banks, consultants, political advertisements and other efforts to back Hogan-Rowles.
Independent expenditures from special-interest groups backing Parks have been negligible by contrast —  $25,000 by a pro-business political action committee and $115 from L.A. Clean Sweep. 

Reach the writer at bbarr223@yahoo.com.