First Asian Nominated to Public Works Board

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley on Friday nominated Dennis Nishikawa, a longtime aide to former Councilman Dave Cunningham, to the Board of Public Works, replacing another commissioner who resigned.

The appointment of Nishikawa, 41, was announced at a City Hall press conference by Bradley, who noted that the appointee would be the first Asian-American to serve on the board. If the nomination is approved by the City Council, Nishikawa will replace Royal O. Schwendinger.

Nishikawa was first believed to be replacing another commissioner, Homer Broome, who recently announced that he would resign to run for a council seat. But Broome’s pending resignation does not take effect until he is officially certified as a candidate by the city clerk, which should occur by mid-February.

Schwendinger, 68, a former beer company executive from Northridge, said in an interview Friday that he had “intended to resign, to retire, much sooner but decided to wait until more progress was made on Hyperion.”

Schwendinger played a major role in overseeing planning and construction of the Hyperion energy recovery system, a major sludge-to-energy project that is a key element of the city’s $2.3-billion effort to upgrade its sewage system. Under a consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department, the city must stop dumping sludge into Santa Monica Bay by the end of this year.

“I feel we’re further along now, and I have some personal things I want to do,” he said. “I have no assurance of immortality, and if I’m going to play, I’d better do it soon.”

Although his resignation letter to Bradley is dated Dec. 19, Schwendinger said he told Bradley after the November election that he wanted to resign. He said Bradley asked him to wait until he could find a replacement.