Council Moves to Force Living Wage Law on DWP

Angry at receiving promises that they say have not been kept, Los Angeles City Council members agreed Wednesday to temporarily seize jurisdiction over the Water and Power Commission in an attempt to force it to implement the city’s living wage ordinance.

Council members sharply criticized the commission’s reluctance to adopt the living wage policies when it confirmed its president, Rick Caruso, last month. At least two council members, in fact, asked Caruso during his confirmation hearing to place the living wage issue on the commission agenda.

He did that last week, but the commission referred the matter to a committee without a deadline for returning it to the full panel.

“I’ve talked to several commissioners, and no one told me it was going to come back any time soon,” said Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, a living wage champion who brought the matter to mostly sympathetic peers Wednesday.

But S. David Freeman, general manager of the Department of Water and Power, said his agency is requiring new contractors to abide by the living wage requirements. He said that the dispute is a “policy issue” for the commissioners, and that the DWP is attempting to comply with the law without action by the commission.

“We’re putting it into contracts, but I wouldn’t want to swear on a stack of Bibles that we’re doing everything we should be doing,” he said. “Our intention is to implement it 100%. At least on my part, there’s no reluctance or foot dragging.”

Caruso, a prominent developer, did not return telephone calls seeking comment on the issue.

But Goldberg said the blame for the lack of adherence to the living wage ordinance by the so-called proprietary agencies--the DWP, the Airport Department and the Harbor Department--belongs to Mayor Richard Riordan, who she believes is encouraging commissioners to avoid adopting it for their agencies.

Also at issue is whether the City Council even has the power to assert authority over the commission in this instance.

According to some, one arm of the city attorney’s office suggested that the council could use voter-approved city Proposition 5, which gives it the power to seize jurisdiction over a commission on a specific issue and take action.

But others have said that the commission would have to take a roll call vote on the issue before the council could assert its authority, and that the commission did not do so, just referring the matter to a committee.

Nonetheless, the council is expected to vote next week to adopt the living wage ordinance for the DWP. Under the law, city contractors must pay workers $7.25 an hour with specified benefits or $8.50 without benefits.

Riordan vetoed the ordinance, but his action was later overturned by the council. Late Wednesday, he sent a letter to Caruso asking the commission to hold a special meeting to affirm its support for the living wage law.

“In Los Angeles, the living wage ordinance is the law,” he wrote. “Clearly, no one can question my commitment to competitive salaries for Angelenos.”

But he also said that the council’s seizure of jurisdiction “sets a dangerous precedent” and that it was probably illegal because the commission referred the issue to a committee rather than acting on it.

“I believe a court of law would ultimately be in agreement with my position,” Riordan wrote.

But Chief Deputy City Atty. Tim McOsker said that although it is a close call, his office has ruled that the council action was legally appropriate.