DWP Head Issues Apology

In a public apology to L.A residents, Department of Water and Power officials said Thursday the blackout that affected 2 million people last week was the result of mistakes that have exposed weaknesses in the system. In a report to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council, DWP General Manager Ron Deaton estimated the power outage cost the utility more than $600,000 in damaged equipment and lost revenue. There was no estimate of the losses suffered by businesses because of the blackout, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported. Deaton said the blackout was a “humbling insight into the procedures that must be improved.” Villaraigosa said he was troubled by the report’s findings.

Protesters Want Union at Glendale Hilton


More than 270 hotel workers and their supporters descended on the Glendale Hilton on Thursday, demanding the creation of a labor union at the four-diamond establishment. Glendale Hilton officials maintain that a union would be bad for their employees, and say the company has competitive wages and benefits, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported. Unite Here Local 11 is circulating petitions in an effort to persuade the company to remain neutral about the organizing drive, which they have described to workers as a first step toward approaching the pay of the unionized Beverly Hills Hilton and a Hilton planned for construction near the Los Angeles Convention Center.

King/Drew Fix-It Firm Faulted


The consulting firm brought in to fix years of mismanagement at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center has routinely inflated its own expenses by double-billing airfares and charging L.A. County for first-class travel and trips unrelated to the hospital. A Los Angeles Times review of expense reports submitted over eight months by Navigant Consulting Inc. found a pattern of liberal spending normally off-limits to those working on the public dime. The head of the county Department of Health Services said his agency planned to reject more than $300,000 of the firm’s $1.3 million in submitted expenses. The consulting firm is under a one-year, $15-million contract to turn King/Drew around.

Sexual Harassment Down but Not Out


Six hundred female L.A. city employees, about 17 percent of those surveyed, said they were sexually harassed in the last year, according to a report made public Thursday. The survey was conducted by the Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women. Paula Petrotta, the panel’s executive director, said the results have prompted her to ask Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to appoint an ombudsman to address the problem. The percentage of women saying they were sexually harassed dropped from 37 percent in 1992, the last time the city conducted a survey, the Los Angeles Times reported. The survey was sent to all 12,793 female city workers and filled out by 3,564 of them.

UC Regents OK Salary Increases


The University of California’s Board of Regents gave initial approval Thursday to a proposal to boost all employee salaries to market levels within a decade, but put off a decision on the plan’s most contentious aspect: the idea of using private donations to supplement the pay of UC’s top executives. A committee of the governing board had been scheduled to vote on the recommendation Thursday, but delayed that until at least November after several regents and faculty raised concerns about using private funds to pay public employees. UC officials say years of tight state funding have left UC salaries about 15 percent below those of comparable public and private universities, and have made it difficult to attract and keep the best professors, the Los Angeles Times reported.

More One-Stop Spots Could Ease Traffic, Study Finds


A study of three South Bay mixed-use centers suggests that nearby residents and workers are more likely to walk to the centers and drive less, potentially decreasing overall traffic congestion locally. The study looked at Inglewood’s downtown, Old Torrance and Redondo Beach’s Riviera Village, places where people live, work and seek entertainment. The study could provide impetus for the creation of other mixed-use centers, the Daily Breeze reported. The study was commissioned by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments, an organization of 16 local cities. Those local governments must find ways to accommodate nearly 170,000 more residents and 80,000 additional jobs in the next two decades in an area already largely built out.

Realtors Pitching Housing Initiative


A plan to increase affordable homeownership opportunities, including financial aid, will be available in California for the first time through a partnership established Thursday between two major players in the market, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported. The Employer Assisted Housing Program was announced by the California Association of Realtors, Fannie Mae and Assemblyman Juan Vargas, D-Chula Vista, during the association’s annual convention in San Diego. It’s designed to increase housing and economic development opportunities throughout the state. The association is forming a way to pitch the plan to businesses, and individual Realtors will be involved.