One day after coming under fire from City Controller Laura Chick, the head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said Thursday that he would withdraw a proposal to give a $152,000 pension boost to his No. 2 executive.
Chick had refused to write a check to Raman Raj, the DWP's chief operating officer, calling the agency's offer unprecedented and saying she wanted a public discussion of the proposal by the City Council. Raj receives an annual salary of $247,000.
DWP General Manager H. David Nahai said in a prepared statement that he was dropping the request -- part of an agreement to lure Raj to the DWP in December -- because of questions about its "appropriateness."
"Questions have arisen regarding the advisability of this matter and how it may be perceived," Nahai said. "We wish to be sensitive to these concerns and responsive to them and have therefore decided to withdraw this request for retirement benefits altogether."
Chick said in a statement that she was "pleased" with the decision by DWP officials and hoped that in the future "they remember that their transactions need to hold up under the light of day."
"When taxpayer dollars are allocated behind closed doors there is a reason, and usually it's not a good one."
Raj has been a subject of controversy for weeks. Council members has repeatedly voiced concern over the DWP's public discussion of contracts with at least four companies that had been clients of Raj last year, when he worked as a private consultant before returning to the DWP.
Two contracts with former Raj clients were scheduled to come up for a vote today.
With both proposals facing a chance of being rejected by the council, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sent a letter late Thursday asking the panel to reject them -- and give the DWP time to craft a conflict-of-interest policy.
Council President Eric Garcetti welcomed the request, saying it was "unfortunate" that it had taken so much effort to get such a policy.
"We're pleased that the mayor shares our perspective that these contracts don't pass the smell test," he added.
Raj had previously worked as a top DWP administrator, but was forced out in 2001.
At the time, he was the subject of a scathing internal report that warned that he could not be trusted to "act in the department's interests when they may conflict with his own agenda."
