GARCETTI MOVES DWP OVERSIGHT UTILITY TO COME UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL PANEL.

Byline: Dan Laidman Staff Writer

The Department of Water and Power will be overseen by a panel focused on the environment rather than commerce under a plan announced Friday that marks Eric Garcetti's first major shake-up since becoming council president.

By moving the nation's largest municipal utility to a new Energy and Environment Committee, Garcetti would leave the city's harbor and airports under a panel focused on commerce and tourism.

``It had nothing to do with the people of L.A. but with the structure of bureaucracies,'' Garcetti said of the old system. ``The people of L.A. want to see us clean up our air, clean up our water and generate our power in a clean way.''

Garcetti unveiled the changes, which will require council approval, along with a reshuffling of committee assignments for his colleagues, which he alone controls.

The announcement caps Garcetti's first week as council leader. The new arrangement for DWP is something he has been thinking about for several years, he said.

Most key posts will remain unchanged from the reign of Garcetti's predecessor, Alex Padilla. Notably, Wendy Greuel will continue to helm the Transportation Committee and Jack Weiss the Public Safety panel.

The most significant leadership shift involves Van Nuys-area Councilman Tony Cardenas, who previously chaired the committee overseeing the DWP, airports and harbor. Now he will lead a panel concerned with information technology and the city's General Services agency while continuing to head a temporary committee on gangs and youth violence.

Garcetti recently moved Cardenas, a close ally of Padilla, out of the council's third-highest leadership post. Both men, however, put a positive spin on the latest switch.

Garcetti touted Cardenas' professional background and legislative experience, saying he is well-suited to oversee the cable refranchising and real estate duties of his new committee.

``Although it can drive my colleagues crazy, my engineering habits and attention to detail have forced bureaucrats away from rhetoric and into action,'' Cardenas said in a statement welcoming the move.

Cardenas has been known to employ a procedural tactic in which he tries to get the City Council to take jurisdiction over matters decided by the boards that oversee the DWP, airports and harbor. Some questioned the value of such maneuvers while Cardenas said he was giving needed scrutiny to huge transactions.

Such motions had mixed results. Earlier this week the council voted down Cardenas' attempt to take a second look at a hefty airport construction contract, leading him to accuse some colleagues of rubber-stamping.

The council members who are now poised to lead the panels overseeing the DWP, airports and harbor both said they will be inquisitive but will probably try to assert jurisdiction over board actions less frequently.

One of them, Janice Hahn, achieved a long-standing goal by taking over the panel overseeing the airports and the harbor, which is in her district.

``I think a Trade, Commerce and Tourism committee is much more streamlined,'' she said, adding that she will push a regional approach to coping with increasing air traffic while trying to bring tourists to L.A.'s harbor.

The Energy and Environment Committee will be chaired by Councilwoman Jan Perry, who said she wants to reach out to the community about issues like a potential DWP rate increase while promoting green power.

``I'll be able to advance (the DWP's) sustainable agenda in a strong partnership,'' she said.

The new domain for the DWP pleased environmentalist Rhonda Mills, director of special projects for the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies.

``I think it's a positive thing that we've taken it and put it in a committee that will give it that consideration of its impact on public health and the environment,'' she said.

Dan Laidman, [phone]

dan.laidman(at)dailynews.com