LOS ANGELES : Confirmation Decision on DWP Appointee Delayed
The City Council on Friday postponed a decision on whether to confirm the appointment of a prominent civil rights attorney to the powerful Department of Water and Power Commission.
The council put off the decision because its Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the city’s Ethics Commission had not yet made recommendations on the appointment.
The council has until next week to vote on whether to confirm Constance Rice, western regional director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Otherwise, Rice will be automatically confirmed.
Last month, the council rejected the mayor’s nomination of another black civil rights attorney, Melanie Lomax. Members said Lomax had a weak record on environmental issues and that she had acted inappropriately as a police commissioner in a feud with then-Police Chief Daryl F. Gates.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
