DWP work force to soar.
Rate hikes would be used to hire nearly 1,000 employees
Daily News article 6/18/2008 10:09:45 PM PDT
Flush with cash from recent taxpayer rate hikes, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is pouring money into expanding its work force by 10 percent — to the highest level in a decade.
The DWP expects to spend about $112 million in salaries and benefits for nearly 1,000 new employees next year to jump-start a five-year, $1 billion power-reliability program and continue a $1.5 billion revamp of the city's water infrastructure.
The hirings would bring the DWP's total work force to about 9,500 as revenue from the water and power rate hikes is expected to total about $100 million in fiscal year 2008-09. The board will consider the budget containing the new staffing today.
But while DWP officials defend the boosts in staffing as crucial and overdue amid growing water and power demand, critics are questioning whether the utility is expanding too quickly and whether some of the staffers are being hired for noninfrastructure projects.
"I think (the DWP) is gearing up too fast," said Board of Water and Power Commission President Nick Patsaouras. "We need the dollars for infrastructure, but that doesn't give us a blank check in every part of the department to spend."
Among 505 new jobs, 181 would be in power, 177 in water and 147 in joint administrative services that include everything from customer service and security to real estate and information technology.
An additional 489 employees would be hired to fill existing vacant positions, according to DWP budget documents.
In addition, the DWP's downtown John Ferraro Building headquarters - where about 3,000 DWP workers are located - is set to undergo an $18.6 million upgrade and reconfiguration to accommodate an extra 300 people to be hired throughout the year.
An additional $6.6 million would be spent to "green" DWP buildings, including replacing inefficient lighting and water facilities in the headquarters building and outlying warehouses. The utility also expects to buy about $1.6 million in ergonomic furniture under its replacement program.
3 comments:
Let the exodus begin.
It's great to stay informed. Thank you for this website.
Also, if you are looking for IT opportunities, check out the latest Civil Service Commission agenda, which says that multiple Systems Programmer and other IT positions are coming up to be authorized for the Department of Airports. Some time later, the minutes will show if these were approved. (That seems to be a formality, though.)
The above agenda is available for subscription by e-mail. These days proprietary departments seem to have a lot of work to do.
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