LA City Council to vote this week on overriding mayoral veto

The Los Angeles City Council this week will decide whether to override Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s veto of a measure that would reduce his control of the Department of Water and Power.

Members of the L.A. City Council like Greig Smith have become increasingly frustrated with the mayor’s management of the Department of Water and Power. “In six years, we’ve had four general managers, we’ve had three presidents of the commission. We’ve had a churning going on there and they’re always political people. They are not experts in the field.”

Mayor Villaraigosa has dismissed such criticism. But last week, the city council voted to place a measure on the March ballot that would give it the authority to fire the DWP’s general manager and board members with a two-thirds vote. Mayor Villaraigosa vetoed it.

On Friday, Councilman Smith urged his colleagues to override him. “Don’t knuckle under. Don’t be afraid of this mayor. He is not being re-elected. He is gone.”

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Villaraigosa is termed out of office in two-and-a-half years.

Council President Eric Garcetti, who opposes the ballot measure, argued that there’s greater accountability when the mayor alone decides who heads the DWP. It takes 10 votes to override the mayor. The initial vote placing the measure on the ballot was 10 to one, with four members absent.