Mayor’s Briefs: Executive Directive 4 Helping Small Business and Mayors Recommendation for LADWP CEO & General Manager

Mayor’s Executive Directive 4 is Breaking Down Multiple Barriers for Small Business 

LOS ANGELES – Mayor Karen Bass April 18 announced progress in opening Los Angeles for business by expanding city departments’ services for small businesses and improving the experience of doing business with the city. 

Making it easier to open and expand businesses:

• The Bureau of Contract Administration has increased staffing and expanded scheduling from two days per week to four days per week for the virtual project assistance meetings (PAM) Desk to make it easier for business owners to ask questions and receive guidance on public works permit requirements..
• Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment is maintaining same day review for most of their services and seeing increased demand.
• On Feb. 20, Mayor Bass approved an ordinance to exempt small scale development projects from the Low Impact Development or LID permit, which will streamline plan review processes and support development of small businesses and affordable housing while focusing on the environmental impacts of larger scale projects.
• The Department of Building and Safety added staff to help execute the restaurant and small business express program which helps facilitate the approval process for all restaurants and other small businesses such as retail and barber shops.
• The Bureau of Streets Services opened a public counter in Van Nuys for walk-in assistance for street vendors.

Improving the experience of doing business with the city:

• Departments involved in executive directive 4 have adopted strategies to help expedite internal review processes and are aiming to finalize the reviewing and processing of invoices that are submitted correctly in less than 45 days. This is a priority shift since Mayor Bass issued the directive, an important step to ensure small businesses with less cash on hand will be paid more quickly when doing business with the city.
• The office of community beautification within the Board of Public Works, between July 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, managed to slash the average time taken to settle invoices with contractors by 50%, compared to the previous year’s performance.

The Mayor’s Office will continue to review and assess processes, timelines, taxes, and fees that create barriers for entrepreneurs and small businesses; evaluating how departments can improve businesses’ engagement with the city and gathering feedback from the business community to advance priorities. The steering committee will submit regular reports to the mayor’s office to track progress and identify additional areas of improvement.

Mayor Bass signed Executive Directive 4 in June 2023. The directive instructed the mayor’s office in collaboration with select city departments and bureaus to form the Los Angeles business steering committee to identify barriers to business development and growth. It also instructed the committee to conduct its initial findings and report back within 90 days of the issuance of the directive. Read the 90-Day Progress Report here and Report Summary here.

Mayor Bass Announces Recommendation of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power CEO & General Manager

LOS ANGELES – Following a nationwide search, Mayor Karen Bass announced April 19 that she has recommended Janisse Quiñones, PE to serve as the new CEO & general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power or LADWP and lead the department through the transition toward 100% clean energy by 2035. 

Janisse Quiñones brings more than 25 years of leadership experience as a senior executive in utility and engineering industries where she managed large-scale operations in order to deliver reliable service to customers, prioritized the safety of workers on the job and directed improvements that made electrical infrastructure more resilient. 

Quiñones most recently served as senior vice president of electric operations at Pacific Gas and Electric or PG&E. At PG&E, Quiñones was responsible for the territory’s electrical system operations and the power generation fleet as well as the management of electrical assets that support the California independent system operator. Prior to that role, Quiñones served as senior vice president of gas engineering for PG&E and as the vice president of gas systems engineering for National Grid, vice president of operations for Cobra Acquisitions and director of design, planning, construction & vegetation management as part of her nine years of work at San Diego Gas & Electric or SDG&E, after she left full time military service. At SDG&E, Quiñones managed the majority of the company’s gas and electric distribution capital construction. 

While Quiñones has extensive experience managing large scale gas and electric companies, she also serves as a commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves assigned to USCG District 11 and as the USCG emergency preparedness liaison officer where she is responsible for managing local, state and federal emergencies. Starting in 2004, Quiñones served as engineering officer and through her work for the United States Coast Guard, Quiñones has shown her strong crisis and emergency response, working in cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Juan Puerto Rico where she played a significant role in rebuilding the energy grid in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017. 

Mayor Bass’ recommendation will now be referred to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners, and later to the Energy and Environment Committee followed by a confirmation vote by the Los Angeles City Council.