Disputed Builder Reappointed to Commission Helm

By a 6-4 vote, the Los Angeles City Council confirmed the controversial reappointment of Department of Water and Power board president Rick Caruso on Friday.

The reappointment was opposed by City Councilman Hal Bernson and environmentalists unhappy with Caruso’s stand on preserving Chatsworth Reservoir, a dry DWP receptacle that has become an ersatz wildlife refuge.

Caruso, a prominent developer, has said he wants to consider other uses for the property, particularly soccer fields. Bernson and environmentalists have argued that the reservoir’s value for wildlife would be diminished if portions were converted into sports fields.

Bernson has long contended that Caruso has failed to comply with a City Council directive to negotiate a 10-year lease with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to preserve the reservoir for wildlife.

“Much to my chagrin, we have been stonewalled,” Bernson told the Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee before Friday’s council vote. The committee, despite Bernson’s testimony, recommended Caruso’s confirmation.

“Soccer fields may be honorable,” Bernson said. “But we think there are better places to accomplish those things.”

Bernson, who has lobbied for two decades to preserve the entire 1,300-acre area, made it clear he would oppose the nomination unless Caruso gave “his word that he will back off and leave the reservoir alone.” Caruso declined to give Bernson that assurance.

Caruso has also talked in the past about setting aside part of the reservoir for development. But on Friday, he said he had given up the idea of nonrecreational development on the reservoir: “The writing is not on the wall,” he said.

However, he said he was still “open to” the idea of using some of the property for commercial recreational uses. “I’d like to find a way for it to be self-sufficient,” he said.

Despite the testimony of many residents in favor of preservation, a majority of the council seemed reassured by Caruso’s pledge that he would order a 90-day study of the reservoir, then give the findings to the council.

“I’m looking at this as a citywide issue,” said City Councilman Mike Hernandez. “The basis of my supporting Caruso is that I’ve seen the department make changes.”

Caruso agreed to the council’s request to include the conservancy and interested neighborhood groups in the DWP’s study of alternate uses for the reservoir.

The council’s narrow vote did not include the chairwoman of the Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Ruth Galanter, who supported the confirmation in committee, but stepped away for the council’s vote.

Besides Bernson, the three council members who voted against the confirmation were Rita Walters, Jackie Goldberg and Nate Holden. A minimum of eight votes were needed to deny confirmation.

Goldberg faulted Caruso for not having pushed the DWP board of commissioners to adopt the city’s living-wage ordinance, a concern echoed by Walters and Holden, who also spoke in favor of preserving the reservoir.

Mayoral appointments to commissions are usually unanimously confirmed with little comment by the council.

But in Caruso’s case, it was clear that opposition was building all week. Council members received a petition bearing 2,800 signatures in opposition to Caruso’s reappointment prior to the vote, and several said they had received letters and calls.