Garcetti names first-ever Inspector General for LADWP

Mayor Eric Garcetti named former Orange County formal Sergio Perez as the very first-ever inspector standard for the Los Angeles Section of H2o and Energy following the organization’s controversial billing system rollout. 

“Transparency and accountability are instrumental to managing a utility that Angelenos can count on and trust,” said Garcetti. “Sergio has the breadth and depth of encounter to make specified that the department is usually working to uphold the best criteria of integrity and improve client self confidence.” 

Just before staying named inspector general, Perez worked as the government director for Orange County’s Business office of Impartial Overview. He will get started his new posture on Could 9. Garcetti initially promised to make the position far more than two many years in the past in September 2019, a couple of months just after LADWP and City Hall East was raided by the FBI. A previous senior law firm in Los Angeles Town Attorney’s Place of work pleaded responsible to a federal charge linked to the botched rollout much less than a 7 days back. 

“I have spearheaded accountability and transparency efforts effectively throughout my career in authorities by doing work to detect and suitable personal occasions of fraud, squander and abuse to get at their root systemic will cause — all with an eye on collaboration and problem-solving,” Perez stated in a statement. 

In accordance to Garcetti, the inspector typical will repeatedly review and oversee contracting matters, whistleblower grievances, ethics and other inside guidelines. Perez and his workplace will have the ability to initiate investigations and control the department’s Inside Audit Division, Distinctive Investigations Unit and ethics compliance personnel. The inspector normal will be part of the LADWP’s senior leadership staff.