L.A. Lights

Solomon Wolfson, L.A. Light Festival, 28th December, 2007 (via Flickr)

Ever notice how the power always seems to stay on for the DWP Holiday Light Festival?

Meanwhile, my little slice of NELA seems to be among the first to lose power any time the wind blows, rain falls, or temperature rises—this time, however, we’ve managed to dodge the bullet (knocks on wood). Sometimes, there’s no rhyme or reason; last week, several Century City high rises went dark on two separate occasions, and for hours at a time, disrupting business and damaging equipment.

Many of you natives simply accept DWP downtime as a fact of life. We refugees know better. Whatever attracted us to this strange land of milk and honey, it wasn’t an electric utility that drove us away.

In a recent appearance on KFI’s The John Batchelor Show, New Yawk expat Chief William Bratton blasted DWP as “horrible,” and, “the worst” after losing power to his Hollywood Hills spread.

Oh, and who could forget columnist-turned-park ranger Steve Lopez’ recent run-in with a blackout, where he all but demanded three-party talks with David Nahai and Councilmember Eric Garcetti?

The problem, of course, is that these backlashes are few and short-lived; DWP is not taking the heat it should be taking, no pun intended, and when someone does bring fire to print or the airwaves, they don't challenge the paradigm, they just vent.

DWP needs to know that its greed and negligence have real, and negative repercussions on both L.A. businesses, and the lives of Angelenos. If you lost power in the latest storm, post your neighborhood name and tell DWP how long you sat in the dark. After all, they read Mayor Sam, too.