Judge Sides With Mayor's Office In DWP Trust Fight
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Friday granted a pair of victories to lawyers for Mayor Eric Garcetti in an ongoing bid to force a union leader to disclose how $40 million was spent at two Department of Water and Power trusts.
KNX 1070's Jon Baird reports the ruling directs DWP union chief Brian D'Arcy to recognize Garcetti legal counsel Richard Llewellyn and Board of Water and Power Commissioner Michael Fleming as trustees on the boards of the two union trusts, the Joint Training Institute and Joint Safety Institute.
Judge Sides With Mayor's Office In DWP Trust Fight
The Joint Training Institute and the Joint Safety Institute have received about $4 million annually from the DWP's coffers over the past decade.
The union had argued that the trusts are independent of the city, and therefore, not required to open their books.
But Friday's ruling essentially waived claims from D'Arcy - the business manager of International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers, Local 18 - who alleged Llewellyn and Fleming are too closely tied to Garcetti, whose interests the union contends are adverse to those of the trusts.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Garcetti said DWP trustees can take their seat at the table to make sure ratepayer money is not misspent.
A request by D'Arcy to try to force arbitration was also denied.
Llewellyn and Fleming were appointed to the boards by the DWP following the January departures of then-DWP General Manager Ron Nichols and then-DWP Assistant General Manager Aram Benyamin.
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