DWP board members held private contract talks with vendor, prompting ethics questions

Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners President Cynthia McClain-Hill, left, and former board member and President Mel Levine. With its own contract, the DWP could set its own terms for Ardent’s billing schedule, but also rely on the power authority’s vetting process, McClain-Hill told the executives on the call. Even if the Southern California Public Power Authority picked Ardent for a contract, the DWP had the ultimate contracting authority, so “the communication is still improper,” said Neama Rahmani, a former assistant U.S. attorney and former director of enforcement for the city’s Ethics Commission. Another top DWP executive, David Alexander, later admitted rigging passage of the Ardent contract through the Southern California Public Power Authority by manipulating the scoring through his role on the power authority’s cybersecurity committee. hope this works for you.” On April 23, 2019, McClain-Hill, Levine and other members of the DWP board approved the utility’s contract with Ardent, Archer and another firm.