DWP Chief Close to Announcing Bid for Assembly

S. David Freeman, the 73-year-old, homespun general manager of Los Angeles’ Department of Water and Power, is on the verge of announcing his candidacy for the state Assembly, a move that would put him in the unusual position of running for public office while running one of the city’s most important agencies.

Freeman has taken a number of steps toward announcing his bid: meeting with Mayor Richard Riordan and top members of the administration, as well as briefing his commission bosses and key City Council members.

Although he is out of town this week, he said in an interview Tuesday that he intends to file the paperwork that allows him to begin exploring a bid when he returns and to make a final decision in the next month or two.

“I’ve been in public life all my life,” Freeman said. “It’s the one thing in public life I haven’t done. And I think I’d do a pretty good job.”

Specifically, Freeman said he believes that his long background in public water and power--in addition to running the DWP, he has served at the top of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and the New York Power Authority--would bring important expertise to a Legislature that is trying to manage energy deregulation and tackle even more complex questions about creating an open market for water.

But the field of potential challengers is hard to gauge.

Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) holds the seat today, but term limits will force her to leave at the end of the current term. State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), who faces a term limit himself, has expressed interest in the seat but is weighing the neighboring district, which Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) is preparing to vacate.

Freeman and Hayden have met to discuss their plans, and Freeman said Hayden left him with the impression that the senator would run in Knox’s district, leaving Freeman with a relatively open field in the other.

Hayden, however, has not decided where to run. His chief of staff, Rocky Rushing, said Assembly leaders have approached the senator about running in Knox’s 42nd District and that Hayden was investigating that possibility.

Riordan, who defeated Hayden in the 1997 mayor’s race, said he believed that his general manager could handle the dual responsibilities of running for office and running the DWP.

“He seems to be able to keep about 50 balls in the air at once,” Riordan said. “He’s done a tremendous job.”

For Freeman, the foray into elected politics comes late in half a century of public service, all of it devoted to public power and water. It raises some potential ethical issues, since Freeman heads an agency with many tentacles, but Freeman said he will not solicit or accept contribution from any firm or individual that does business with the DWP.

Since coming to Los Angeles, Freeman’s main mission has been to attempt a radical restructuring of the DWP, which faces the uncertain future of energy deregulation while burdened with huge debts from its bad investments of prior years. Led by Freeman, the agency pared down and has steadily been winnowing down those debts. Once an alarmist about the DWP’s future, Freeman now says he believes that it will be on sound footing when deregulation hits with full force.

At the same time, he has launched the DWP’s “Green Power” program, an initiative that allows customers to pay a modest hike in their electric bill in return for the assurance that the money will go toward the development of environmentally sensitive power sources such as solar and wind energy.

As well known for his cowboy hats and Tennessee aphorisms as for his policies, Freeman has emerged as one of the city’s most recognizable managers.

For the most part, Freeman has enjoyed strong support for his efforts. City Council members who resist any cutbacks in the city work force nevertheless accepted his call to trim the DWP. Riordan, for whom environmentalism is a low priority, nevertheless backed Freeman’s Green Power efforts.

Still, Freeman has had his clashes. Some Riordan aides complain that his budget estimates and projections are imprecise, and some officials grouse that he is publicity hungry and armed with an occasionally brusque temper.

Freeman’s contract to run the DWP ends in September 2000. He said he would campaign only on his own time, using evenings and weekends until election day approaches, at which point he said he might take vacation time.

“I hope the people of my district will think I’m the right guy for the job,” he said. “If not, there’s no hard feelings.”