4 COMMISSIONERS APPROVED VILLARAIGOSA ANNOUNCES NOMINEES FOR FIRE PANEL.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa won City Council approval Friday for four of his appointees to two key city panels as he announced his nominees to serve on the Los Angeles Fire Commission.

In separate 10-0 votes, the council approved the mayor's appointments of longtime environmentalist Mary Nichols to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners and former DWP manager David Freeman, attorney Kaylynn Kim and banker Douglas Krause to the Board of Harbor Commissioners.

The mayor, who said he is moving to push his environmental agenda and get all areas of the city represented on commissions, was pleased with the council's action.

``I think what you've seen and what you will see in the hundreds of appointments I'm making is that it will reflect the makeup of the city of Los Angeles,'' Villaraigosa said. ``They will be from every part of the city and represent every group and religion.''

The nominees to the five-member Fire Commission include Jill Furillo, a registered nurse who would become the first resident of the Tujunga area to serve on a city commission. It was because of that that Villaraigosa made his announcement in front of Fire Station 74, which serves the Sunland-Tujunga area.

The other nominees are former school board member Genethia Hudley Hayes of South Los Angeles; attorney Andrew Friedman of the Fairfax area; community activist Delila Sotello of Eagle Rock; and administrative law Judge Casmiro Tolentino of Silver Lake.

Tolentino is the only one who has experience as a commissioner, having served on the Civil Service Commission under then-Mayor Tom Bradley. At the time, the commission eased the height requirement for firefighters to allow more women and men in the Fire Department.

``We have challenges we need to face in the department,'' Villaraigosa said, referring to an audit being conducted into the Fire Department's training programs to determine if there is harassment of women and minority recruits. ``But I see it as an opportunity to make changes and improve a department that I think is already the best in the nation.''

Villaraigosa said he wants the Fire Commission to ensure that Los Angeles is prepared for a natural disaster to avoid problems like those being experienced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

In approving the mayor's nominees for the DWP and Harbor panels, the council closely questioned their commitment to environmental improvements as well as involving the community in the decision-making process.

Nichols commended DWP management for working with neighborhood councils and said she wants to expand that communication to include commissioners.

``We need to build on the good work that has gone on and incorporate it in the process,'' she said. ``I think that the public sometimes feel it is not getting the full picture and have not been given the full story when it comes to rate increases. We need to make sure they know why we are doing what we are doing.''

Freeman, one of the Harbor appointees, said there is a similar sense of disenchantment in the communities of San Pedro and Wilmington and that residents there also need to be included in making decisions.

``They have had to carry the burden of the port's success,'' Freeman said.

Rick Orlov, [phone]

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com