LOS ANGELES : City Will Seek Expert to Study Public Works Revamp
The Los Angeles City Council authorized a search Tuesday for a consultant to recommend ways to streamline the Department of Public Works.
The consultant also will look into the best way of revamping the giant agency if the Board of Public Works, the city’s only full-time politically appointed commission, is abolished.
Mayor Richard Riordan this year proposed eliminating the panel, but the council tabled the matter because a majority wanted a more detailed reorganization plan.
“This is our solution to that problem,” said Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton.
The council directed Deaton to prepare a request for proposals from consulting firms and allocated $200,000 for the contract.
Aside from a general departmental review, the consultant will examine “alternatives to consolidate, reorganize and/or streamline the department, its bureaus and the Board of Public Works.”
The commission, whose five members each earn $74,500 a year, oversees management of the agency’s seven bureaus, which include sanitation, street lighting, street maintenance and engineering.
The department operates with an annual budget of $376.1 million.
The Bureau of Sanitation alone was allocated $338.3 million this year for upgrades of the city’s aging sewer system.
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