Run-amok govt. gravy train in Los Angeles and corresponding lack of common sense in public policy; Steve Lopez of LA Times positively owns story re LA taxpayers angry about $$$ spigot at city's Dept. of Water and Power. City officials upset re proposed new contract under which employees still WON'T have to contribute a cent towards their own healthcare costs.; DWP's unlimited sick pay policy has cost LA taxpayers $35.5 Million since 2010 for extra days off that AREN'T covered by the agency's 10-day cap; New LA mayor Eric Garcetti has a "back to basics" plan but will city council and unions just ignore it?

Angry about the money spigot at L.A.'s Department of Water and Power http://t.co/3Q57wfCLZq
— Steve Lopez LA Times (@LATstevelopez) August 17, 2013

Friday's drag-out DWP hearing as viewed by @LATstevelopez http://t.co/Zqwl46PwWm and by our news section http://t.co/E8qiEUlQ90
— David Zahniser (@DavidZahniser) August 17, 2013

"I don't have more pockets for you guys to dip into to get more money for rate increases..."

Los Angeles Times
Angry about the money spigot at L.A.'s Department of Water and Power
City officials get an earful from residents upset about proposed new contract under which employees still won't have to contribute toward healthcare costs.
By Steve Lopez
August 17, 2013, 12:00 p.m.

Ordinarily, I don't spend more than an hour or so at a time in Los Angeles City Hall. I get in and out of there, quick as a burglar, to avoid having my judgment impaired.

I thought longingly about that approach on Friday, when I attended a windy public hearing on a proposed new contract for employees of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. For the first two hours, public officials explained the contract, in mostly rosy terms.

It wasn't perfect, they said, but pretty good. 

Well, I guess I don't have to tell you that lots of concerned LA taxpayers had a different idea, right?
Read the rest of the column at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0818-lopez-dwp-20130818,0,3154788.column

The $195,000 welder, and the costly LADWP perk that boosted his pay. http://t.co/fBDY9E4HBb
— Jack Dolan (@jackdolanLAT) August 16, 2013

It's the "bonus for working in inclement weather" that gets me in this story about LA Water & Power pay excesses. http://t.co/6CPslcKdWB
— Robin Abcarian (@robinabcarian) August 16, 2013

Los Angeles Times
Costly perk forces DWP to shell out extra if it gives work to outside contractors
Overtime clause hikes the department's costs for hiring contractors.
By Jack Dolan
August 15, 2013, 6:44 p.m.

It's no secret Los Angeles Department of Water and Power employees are paid well. But a little-known clause in their union contract ensures they can work extra hours and collect even higher wages when private contractors are hired to help them get the job done.

The so-called "outsourcing bonus" traces back to a single sentence inserted into the city-owned utility's labor contract nearly two decades ago. Intended partly to discourage use of private companies with lower labor costs, the contract provision requires DWP managers to offer overtime to any employee who could have performed tasks assigned to a contractor — such as engineering, construction or clerical work. 

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dwp-bonus-20130815,0,1495706.story

Wait, is there a columnist buried under that new sidewalk? is Jimmy Hoffa in there with him? http://t.co/IcYIrG0TOU
— Steve Lopez LA Times (@LATstevelopez) August 8, 2013

Does Mayor Garcetti have a plan for his 'back to basics' promise? http://t.co/g91ByK5d0w
— Steve Lopez LA Times (@LATstevelopez) August 7, 2013

Columnist disappears under ruptured sidewalk. http://t.co/Cc4u6k5O03 foto by don Bartletti pic.twitter.com/gAdfeZ7g7I
— Steve Lopez LA Times (@LATstevelopez) August 3, 2013

You got a permit for that eggplant, lady? MT @LATstevelopez: L.A. still saying parkway vegetable gardens must go http://t.co/klljQZ9zo7
— LandUseLA (@LandUseLA) August 1, 2013

Los Angeles Times 
DWP's unlimited sick pay policy costs millions
The L.A. utility has paid $35.5 million since 2010 for extra days off that aren't covered by the agency's 10-day cap.
By Jack Dolan
July 26, 2013, 5:00 a.m.

Los Angeles' Department of Water and Power has paid thousands of employees a total of $35.5 million since 2010 in extra sick days under an unusual program that the utility's top executive acknowledges has been vulnerable to abuse.

DWP employees benefit from a 32-year-old policy that allows them to take paid days off well beyond the agency's 10-day-a-year cap on sick days. Last year, 10% of the department's roughly 10,000 employees took at least 10 extra days off, the data show. More than 220 took an extra 20 working days off, or about a month, according to a Times examination of data obtained under the California Public Records Act. 

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dwp-sick-20130726,0,889920,full.story

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Steve Lopez LA Times  @LATstevelopez  https://twitter.com/LATstevelopez

Jack Dolan  @jackdolanLAT  https://twitter.com/jackdolanLAT