250 Residents Protest Water Rate System : Utility: The crowd, joined by Councilwoman Laura Chick, threatened lawsuits and initiative drives unless relief from higher bills is provided.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick joined 250 west San Fernando Valley residents Monday night to protest a water rate system that they claim unfairly imposes larger utility bills on Valley residents.

“The new rates are causing an incredible hardship in the Valley,” Chick warned Mayor Richard Riordan’s Task Force on Water Rate Restructuring at a lengthy public hearing at El Camino High School.

Without offering a specific proposal, Chick urged the panel to amend the rates so “they will not rest so much on the backs of San Fernando Valley homeowners.”

Although Chick’s comments drew strong applause, other speakers--threatening everything from lawsuits to initiative drives unless rate relief was provided--often drew louder acclaim from the unhappy customers of the city’s Department of Water and Power.

Because Monday night’s meeting was held solely to take testimony, not to take action, the task force did not respond to any of the speakers’ remarks.

Monday’s meeting was the first held in the Valley by the panel since the controversy erupted last summer over the new rate system. A second meeting will be held at 6 p.m. tonight at Van Nuys Middle School, 5435 Vesper Ave. A third meeting in the Valley is to be scheduled.

In September, amid rising complaints from the Valley precincts where he scored his biggest election victory margins, Riordan asked the task force to study the impact of the water rates and named four Valley residents to the panel.

The new rate system, which took effect in February, was designed to promote conservation and has two price tiers. The lower tier is for customers who use less water. The prices in the higher tier kick in when a customer uses twice the water consumed by the average DWP residential customer.

In addition to the high and low tiers, there are summer and winter rates, with summer rates being higher.

According to critics, the rates are unfair because Valley residents--and many Westsiders as well--have larger lawns that require more water, and many who live on hillside lots feel they must preserve trees and shrubs to prevent erosion during the rainy season. In addition, Valley summers are hotter than those of the Los Angeles basin, further increasing the area’s water demands.

But supporters of the new water rate system say it correctly encourages conservation in a desert region, which sometimes has uncertain water supplies. Moreover, they claim that the new rate system has meant higher rates for only about one-fourth of DWP’s customers while the remainder have enjoyed reductions in their water bills.

The mood at Monday night’s hearing was often rebellious, with scores of speakers reciting personal tales of rate woe. Brian Ofria appeared to shock the crowd with his claim that he had received a $2,300 bill for a two-month period for his household of eight in Woodland Hills; Frieda Rathbun, a retired widow, drew moans of sympathy when she told of her $533 bill.

“If you don’t want another Proposition 13 revolt you must give us relief,” warned Fred Ulise, a salesman from Northridge.

To the cheers of the audience, Loren Zeldin, a teacher from Reseda, urged overhauling the City Charter to require members of the DWP’s governing board--now appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council--to run for election. “I’m tired of political appointees who are not responsive to those of us who pay the bills,” Zeldin told the enthusiastic crowd.