Department of Water and Power Discusses Budget Cuts

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Representatives from the Department of Water and Power, Harbor and Airports answered questions about the budget crisis from members of the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday afternoon. The questions were mainly about how the three agencies could create new jobs for city workers. Janice Hahn called the situation we are in as "an emergency" and "a crisis"” All three representatives talked about their willingness to fire contractors and hire city workers. The three are expected to go back to their respective agencies and look at the numbers again to see if there is room to hire more people. There will be another meeting on Tuesday the 23rd where the council will ask for the agencies findings.

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The Los Angeles City Council met today to discuss budget cuts and their effect on the jobs of city workers. Representatives from the Department of Water and Power, Airports and Harbors appeared before the city council.
Council members spent most of the meeting urging the representatives to find more vacancies immediately.

Janice Hahn, who represents the area of San Pedro, said,"Look hard again if you can absorb some of these employees. That's what we are asking you. We are part of the city family and I'll tell you, we don't want to lay people off. We are looking for you to help us. It's an emergency. It’s a crisis."

The three agencies hire a number of outside contractors, but the city council wants city workers to take their jobs. "I understand you want to maintain quality, but I think city workers are quality workers and you can maintain them as well," said City Councilman Richard Alarcon.

After hearing the pleas from the city council to employ more city workers, the three agency heads agreed to look back at their numbers to see if they have room for more city workers.
The Department of Water and Power has 117 current openings, but David Freeman, Interim General Manager of DWP, said, "We are going to do better than that because I am going to do what the council is suggesting. I am going to go back and look at every contract we got and find out if we can cancel the contract and hire city workers for it."

A recent report from the Los Angeles Times stated that the city of Los Angeles will be looking at close to 1,000 layoffs. With this large amount of layoffs, any new job will help.
The three agencies will be back at the city council next Tuesday to discuss what new job openings they will have in the coming months.