DWP Commissioner Resigns, Makes Room for Environmentalist

Department of Water and Power Commissioner Carol Wheeler resigned Monday at the request of Mayor Tom Bradley who said he wants a more environmentally minded board.

Bradley’s office is expected to name a replacement today. The mayor’s aides said the new commissioner will have “strong environmental credentials.”

The new commissioner would be the third environmentalist installed on the five-member board this year, shifting the panel’s balance of power to activists with little business experience.

Earlier this year, Bradley appointed Mike Gage, his combative former aide and a self-styled environmentalist, and Dorothy Green of Heal the Bay to the board.

Wheeler, a labor union executive appointed in 1984, was midway through her second four-year term. She said Bradley asked her last week to step down and invited her to join another city board, possibly the Board of Zoning Appeals.

“The mayor is grateful to Carol for her years of dedicated service and looks forward to her continuing participation on another commission,” said Bill Chandler, a spokesman for the mayor.

The move is a key part of Bradley’s strategy to rein in the giant agency and fundamentally alter its course, the mayor’s aides say.

A third environmentalist vote on the board would smooth the way for the election of Gage as president of the commission. Gage would replace Board President Rick Caruso, who is seen as being closely allied with DWP management and the business community.

The shake-up is part of a broader attempt by Bradley to embrace “quality of life” issues--such as pollution and traffic--and to downplay the pro-development image that critics say characterized the first four terms of his Administration.

Bradley has recently been critical of DWP’s senior management. Bradley has publicly chastised the agency for spending $700,000 on charter jets and $1 million on VIP tours.

The criticism, combined with the board changes, could lead to resignations among the veteran bureaucrats who manage DWP. Many of these officials already are leery of Bradley’s environmentalist agenda.

Board members said that the decision to replace Wheeler came when she sided with the DWP staff against the mayor’s proposed mandatory water rationing plan.

Staff members initially opposed the plan saying it was not justified given the existing water supply, but eventually embraced the program. The City Council will vote on the measure Wednesday.