Reforming Los Angeles Forum Announced for October 7th

Reforming Los Angeles: A 10-Year Review of Charter Reform - Is It Working?"

Councilmember José Huizar will moderate a Reforming Los Angeles panel discussion on October 7th in City Council Chambers featuring some of the region's top experts on Charter Reform and City Governance. Full panel TBA.

Ten years ago, Los Angeles voters approved a set of sweeping changes to promote civic engagement and rethink its government structure. It is time to review Charter Reform to see if it is working and decide where we need to go.

The forum will address hot topics such as the LADWP/Ratepayer Advocate, status of Neighborhood Councils, and the power dynamic between the Mayor, City Attorney, City Controller and the City Council.

This is a follow-up to the successful March forum on Campaign Finance Reform and the June forum on Election Reform. In addition to moderating, Councilmember Huizar will also provide an update on both of the previous forums and make an announcement for the fourth in the series--set for November.

· Forum hosted and moderated by Councilmember José Huizar

· Thursday, October 7, 2010

· 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. in Los Angeles City Hall Council Chambers

· Free and open to the public

· Hosted parking

Register Now!

The Government Reform Forum Series are free and open to the public. There is no cost to attend and free parking can be arranged by contacting the Office of Councilmember Huizar at (213) 473-7014. Light refreshments will be served.

Council Adopts My Proposal to Put DWP, Port of LA and LAWA Budgets Online

As part of my work on more transparent government, I introduced a motion calling for all of our proprietary departments — the Department of Water & Power (DWP), the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and the Port of Los Angeles (Harbor Department) — to put their budgets online. You can click here for the motion as well as see it on the City home page (fourth item from the top under Los Angeles Highlights).

In these tough economic times it is critical that our departments share budgetary information with stakeholders so we can all have a robust conversation about priorities and resource allocation, particularly with DWP asking for a 4% to 6% water increase. This comes on top of a 4.5% power increase after a particularly contentious battle with the DWP.

I am pleased to announce that the Harbor Department and the DWP have already put their budgets on the news section of the City home page. I expect LAWA to soon follow suit.

First to call for “Ratepayers' Advocate”

I was also the first Councilperson to call for the creation of an outside, independent official to review DWP proposals for water and power increases in order to create more transparency and to help reduce the chances of unnecessary rate increases. The idea has caught on and is now being referred to as a Ratepayers' Advocate. This position would be modeled after the Fire Department's Independent Assessor, which I helped create, and would be led by an expert in water and energy issues. I am working with my colleagues to determine how best to structure this position and plan to place a measure before voters in next March's elections to make it a reality.