An appeals court today sided with LA Controller Ron Galperin's efforts to audit the financial records of a pair of Department of Water and Power worker safety and training trusts that receive about $4 million a year from the utility.
Brian D'Arcy, the chief of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 18, has challenged subpoenas issued by Galperin's office to gain access to the trusts financial records, saying the controller does not have the right to directly examine those documents.
A Superior Court judge earlier denied D'Arcy's request to quash the subpoenas, and a state appeals court today affirmed that decision, ruling that the Joint Safety Institute and Joint Training Institute agreements actually do allow Galperin to conduct his audits.
According to the ruling, the documents creating the trusts "empowered the controller to conduct the audit at the DWP's request, notwithstanding Local 18's election to have" a firm picked by the union to audit the trusts for the years 2013 and 2014.
"For that reason, appellant has established no basis for relief by writ of mandate," according to the ruling.
D'Arcy's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two trusts, set up in 2000 and 2002, are governed by boards made up of both Department of Water and Power and Local 18 officials. They are tasked with providing safety and training programs for utility workers.
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While union officials have resisted Galperin's attempts to audit the trusts, they did eventually agree to hand over financial documents to Galperin and other city officials as part of a mutual agreement with city leaders reached separately from the subpoenas.
Galperin has since conducted an audit based on those documents, finding that the trusts "operate in an environment that has lax oversight and inadequate financial controls" over purchasing contracts and travel expenditure.
The audit found that an IBEW official and seven other trust administrators each received $222,000 annual salaries. The administrators also received a $500 per month vehicle allowance.
Another audit performed by accounting firm BCA Watson Rice on behalf of City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana resulted in recommendations for improving the trusts' purchasing and travel expense policies, and other methods to improve their governing structure.
