LA voters could give huge power to a city role that hasn't really existed for 20 years

Angelenos are being asked in the November election to make a big change to one of L.A.’s most important agencies, the city’s Department of Public Works.

But even the most plugged-in L.A. voters could be forgiven for having a hard time understanding how exactly the measure, Charter Amendment LA, would do that.

As a reporter trying to explain it, I did too.

I was able to wrap my head around most of what the measure would do with a little research and a few interviews. (We have a detailed breakdown of Charter Amendment LA in our voter guide.)

But one of its most significant pieces — one that would change who leads the Department of Public Works — took some serious digging to fully understand. And I wasn’t alone. It turns out that quite a few officials and experts in L.A. were also puzzled.

Who will run Public Works? Who runs it now?

L.A.’s Department of Public Works manages city facilities and infrastructure, including streets, bridges, sewers, storm drains and treatment plants, as well as City Hall and parts of Los Angeles International Airport. At the top of the department’s current power structure is a five-member Board of Public Works.

Charter Amendment LA would transfer power from the board to a role called the director of Public Works, who would report to the mayor, City Council and city controller.

At first glance, that seemed simple enough.

That is, until I asked what I thought was a straightforward question: “Who is the current director of Public Works?”

I did not get straightforward answers — from multiple city officials, supporters of the measure and its opponents.

• Some said the director of Public Works is the president of the Public Works board, who is generally considered the head of the agency.
• Others said the position has just never been filled. 
• The Public Works Department’s own public affairs representative simply didn’t know. 
• And Mayor Karen Bass’ office didn't respond to LAist’s two requests for comment this week.

Eventually, two current city officials pointed me to the person who’s overseeing these responsibilities.

There’s a backstory.

The disappearing director

The director of Public Works position was created through an amendment to the L.A. City Charter, essentially the city’s constitution, in 1999.

In 2005, the City Council transferred the director’s role and responsibilities to the board’s secretary, which was renamed “executive officer.”

Since then, the Public Works Department effectively hasn’t had a person with the title “director.”

Today, the executive officer position is held by TJ Knight, a longtime city employee. Knight’s official title is acting executive officer of the Board of Public Works.

“The director position has remained in the City Charter but has not operated as a separate position since [2005],” Knight said in an emailed statement to LAist. “Charter Amendment LA would revive and increase the authority of the director.”

If the measure is approved, however, it’s unclear who would become the director.

“Any next steps regarding the position will depend on the outcome of the election,” Knight said.

Calls for change

Overall, Charter Amendment LA aims to streamline how the city of L.A. plans for, budgets for and prioritizes infrastructure maintenance and repairs.

There's wide support for improving how the city handles these projects. The city struggles with aging infrastructure, a huge backlog of projects and a steady stream of complaints about delayed work and deteriorating conditions.

Many of those projects fall under the Department of Public Works. A chorus of officials and public infrastructure advocates, including supporters of Charter Amendment LA, blame the agency’s current structure, at least in part, for the city’s inability to address infrastructure projects in a timely fashion.

They say the board’s bureaucracy slows down infrastructure projects and makes it more difficult to hold a single person accountable for delays. On top of that, they argue the commissioners do not necessarily have extensive experience in public works or engineering. A director would be expected to have a background in those areas.

“If you look at how that impacts service and delivery of their tasks — which is everything from streetlights to curb ramps, to bike lanes, to sidewalk repair — it's very fragmented because there's no one person in charge of overseeing all of it and making sure that it's coherent in terms of its service delivery,” said City Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who is backing the measure.

The Public Works Department is also divided into bureaus responsible for managing different sectors, such as sanitation, engineering, street lighting, street services and contract administration. Critics of the current system argue they also have no central leadership to turn to.

Yaroslavsky and other supporters say the answer is putting a strong director in charge rather than the board.

Charter Amendment LA would also give the City Council the power to change or eliminate the Board of Public Works altogether, a prospect that has sparked the measure’s main opposition. Opponents are concerned eliminating the board would do away with an important check and balance on the department at a time when public trust in City Hall has been damaged by corruption and other scandals.

“The Board of Public Works provides essential, open-meeting scrutiny over multibillion-dollar city contracts that Los Angeles taxpayers cannot afford to lose. Charter Amendment LA weakens accountability by consolidating power under a single position,” said City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez.

Other city departments have boards, including the Department of Recreation and Parks, the Harbor Department and the Department of Water and Power. One major difference is that members of the Board of Public Works are the only commissioners in the city who are paid a salary. Some make around $200,000 a year.

It’s not clear what the director position would be paid if the measure is approved by voters in November.

If it does pass — and now that I understand the inner workings of the Public Works Department so well — let’s hope they don’t ask me to apply for the position.