Bradley Offers New Nominee for DWP Panel

After failing to win City Council approval for the appointment of Melanie Lomax, Mayor Tom Bradley on Thursday nominated another black civil rights attorney, Constance L. Rice, to the powerful Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Commission.

The nomination of Rice, Western regional counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., drew little reaction at City Hall, where a council majority earlier this week angered Lomax’s black supporters by rejecting her appointment to the DWP board.

Rice, 36, was among the supporters of Lomax, who was rebuffed because council members said she lacked a strong record on environmental issues and had acted inappropriately as a police commissioner when she became locked in a bitter clash with then-Police Chief Daryl F. Gates.

“I’m not going to play the game of environmental credentials,” Rice said Thursday.

If confirmed by the council, Rice would replace popular environmentalist Mary Nichols and become the only African-American on the five-member board of the DWP, which provides water and power to 3.5 million residents and operates facilities that affect air and water quality in California and several Western states.

“I think the mayor has made very clear he wants (to continue) the same type of approach to the environment that Nichols had,” Rice said. “Mrs. Lomax gave that assurance, and I’m giving the same assurance.”

Bradley said in a statement that Rice will address the “affirmative action performance at the city-owned utility and promote environmentally sensitive polices.”

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter and several environmentalists who opposed Lomax’s appointment said Thursday they want to find out more about Rice’s environmental activities before taking a position on the appointment.

But Council President John Ferraro, a vocal critic of Lomax, was complimentary to Rice, who sought to ensure that black voting power was not diluted by recently approved City Council redistricting.

“She strikes me as a very strong and capable individual,” Ferraro said. “My initial reaction is that she would add some depth to the commission.”

During the council hearing on Lomax earlier this week, Rice said that the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. has undertaken an “environmental justice” project that has targeted environmental problems in poor and minority communities.

“The brunt of environmental abuse is borne by poor people and people of color,” she said. Rice, who holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University and a law degree from New York University, said, “I see my mandate as one to involve communities of color and poor communities in environmental issues.”

Galanter, however, noted, “The mayor knows plenty of other black people who have a lot of experience in environment. I have to assume that he didn’t want to appoint any of them because it might look as though the environmentalists and I had a point.”

Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani responded that some of the people whose names were submitted by environmentalists already hold important posts in the Bradley Administration.

When she learned of the nomination, Lomax said, “I had to laugh. . . . Her credentials are almost identical to mine. I could think of no better candidate.”