A top executive hired to run day-to-day operations at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has come under fire as the latest example of the revolving door between city government and businesses that seek lucrative public contracts.
Before returning to the DWP in December after a six-year absence, Raman Raj, who earns $247,000 annually as the utility's chief operating officer, worked most of last year as a consultant for at least three DWP contractors. He also worked for a company being discussed as the possible subject of a lawsuit over a 2005 power outage.
DWP General Manager H. David Nahai said Raj has "religiously" avoided any discussions of those companies, stepping out of the room on three occasions since Dec. 1, the day he took the job.
But lingering questions about Raj prompted the City Council on Friday to reject a proposed $1.5-million contract to one of Raj's former clients. Council members said they were not told of Raj's recent relationship with the contractor -- or of any strategy to isolate him from potential conflicts.
"As a committee chair, I feel I got played, because we didn't understand the context of those contracts, and we needed to hear it up front," said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who heads the council's Energy and Environment Committee.
"He should have told us. He should have told me," she said.
Friday's vote will require the DWP to reconsider its proposed three-year contract with Osmose Inc., which is seeking to maintain computer software that gathers data on power outages.
Under the city charter, commissioners are required to step down after three recusals in a single year -- or rid themselves of their potential conflict. No such rule exists, however, for city department heads and their top executives, including Raj.
Raj, 58, said he has severed ties with his former clients and will have no trouble avoiding discussion of them. And Nahai, who was hired last year by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, said the DWP erected a "Chinese wall" around Raj to insulate him from potential conflicts.
Nahai said he knew of Raj's consulting work before he hired him and had no trouble with it.
"I regarded his working with clients that were working with the department as actually a positive thing in bringing him to this post," Nahai said. "He brings a private-sector perspective and an understanding of how the outside world views contracting with the DWP."
