Two members of the Los Angeles Water and Power Commission, a former Democratic congressman and a City Hall veteran, privately discussed the DWP contract with a cybersecurity company executive, but the exchange has raised concerns from ethics experts. There is.

In 2019, then-DWP Commission Chair Mel Levine and then-Vice President Cynthia McClainhill had a 36-minute phone conversation with two executives to explain the utility's plans for closing the deal. did.

A few weeks later, commissioners voted to approve it. 60-day, $3.6 million contract The company has partnered with two other companies. Under the agreement, cybersecurity firm Ardent Cyber ​​Solutions is estimated to be responsible for approximately 75% of the work.

The city's ethics law prohibits commissioners from privately participating in the review or negotiation of contracts they vote on. DWP board regulations also bar association member We do not personally discuss bids with vendors.

Mr. Levine's attorney, Daniel Sharman, and Mr. McClain-Hill said the conversation was appropriate. The aim was to allow the Ardent executive, who had been working on cybersecurity for his DWP under a separate contract, to continue his work at the power company, they said.

They also said their goal was to protect DWP, which could face attacks on its water supply and power grid.

In the secretly recorded call, commissioners discussed the bill, when the DWP board would vote on the contract and the date the utility would issue its first work order to the company.

DWP Commissioners are volunteers appointed by the Mayor. They vote on multi-million dollar contracts in public meetings, oversee departments and carry out the mayor's policies.

Levine's attorney and McClain-Hill said the two commissioners were not involved in the review of Ardent as a vendor or any other aspect of the competitive bidding process for the cybersecurity work. Because it was handled by the Southern California Public Power Authority.

The Electricity Authority is a group of around 12 power companies, including DWP, that enters into master agreements with vendors on behalf of its members.

In the case of Ardent, DWP chose to enter into a short-term contract with the company on its own, rather than seeking work through an electricity authority agreement.

McLain-Hill told executives on a conference call that its own contract allows DWP to set its own terms for Ardent's billing schedule, but it also depends on the power authority's review process.

McLain Hill, who currently chairs the DWP board, acknowledged to the Times that it was unusual for her and Levine to be involved in discussions normally reserved for staff members.

“During my tenure as a member of the Water and Power Commission, I have always acted ethically and have never engaged in any illegal or illegal activity,” McLain-Hill said in a statement.

Sharman, Levine's lawyer, said the call records show that “Mel acted in the best interests of DWP and its customers and fully complied with all applicable laws.” .

Levine represented the LA area in Congress for 10 years until 1993, and resigned from the DWP board in 2020.

Some ethics experts interviewed by the Times questioned whether the commissioners were complying with the city's ethics code.

Section 49.5.11 of the City's Ethics Code provides: “Except at public meetings, no member of the board or commission of the City shall participate in the development, consideration, evaluation, negotiation, or recommendation process of bids, proposals, or proposals.'' That board, commission, or Other requests for adjudication or termination of contracts, amendments, or change orders involving the Agency. ”

Other provisions of the ordinance prohibit commissioners from revealing confidential information.

Even if the Southern California Public Power Authority selected Ardent for the contract, DWP had final contract authority and “communication would still be inadequate,” said the former assistant U.S. attorney and executive director of the city's Ethics Commission. said Neema Rahmani. .

“No, no, no. Times have changed,” said former Los Angeles City Administrator and City Council member Laura Chick. “You shouldn't have private conversations with bidders. And you probably shouldn't have private conversations with them unless your staff is present.”

Mr. Levine and Mr. McClain-Hill, both attorneys, were appointed to the DWP board by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti. The call was first revealed in a legal filing, but the full details of the conversation had not previously been reported.

The Times reviewed the recording of the call and emailed the recording to Mr. Levine and Mr. McClain-Hill.

The call appears to have been secretly recorded by Paul Paradis, a former lawyer turned FBI informant in the government's corruption investigation into City Hall.

Paradis said in federal bankruptcy court documents that he recorded the recording of Levine and McClain-Hill on April 5, 2019, as part of his job for the FBI. The application to the Paradis Island court is report By Knock LA and Debaser in 2022.

Paradis declined to comment on the audio reviewed by the Times. Tom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, also declined to comment.

The call came as a corruption scandal unfolds at the highest levels of the DWP and the City Attorney's Office. This information was leaked to the public when the FBI raided two city departments in July 2019.

The government investigation focused on fake lawsuits over cybersecurity contracts, illegal payments and DWP's flawed invoices. Mr. Paradis worked on the city's case, secured a contract with DWP, and then assisted the FBI.

DWP chief executive David Wright later pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme involving Paradis' cybersecurity firm.

Another top DWP official, David Alexander, later authorized collusion passage He secured a contract with Ardent through the Southern California Public Power Authority by manipulating the score through his role on the power authority's cybersecurity committee.

Prosecutors never suggested that Mr. McClain-Hill, Mr. Levine, or the two Ardent executives, Jeremy Dodson and Ryan Clark, knew about Mr. Alexander's operation.

At the time of the call, Dodson and Clark were working for DWP through Paradis' company known as Aventador. After media reports questioned Paradis' role in the fake lawsuit and the DWP board terminated the Aventador contract, Dodson and Clark formed their own company, Ardent.

During the call, McClain-Hill told Dodson and Clark that the power authority planned to approve Ardent as a vendor. DWP then contracts directly with Ardent, which allows the utility company to “determine the frequency of payments, the terms of payments, etc.”, she explained.

Levine can be heard assuring cybersecurity executives that two commissioners will support the deal when it goes to the DWP board.

“We need three votes, and two of them are here,” Levine said at one point, explaining the timeline for approval.

Dodson and Clark did not respond to requests for comment. Neither has been accused of wrongdoing.

Commissioners also discussed strategies to shift public attention away from Ardent, with McClain-Hill telling executives he plans to “dim the spotlight a little bit” on the company. McClain-Hill said on a conference call that under this strategy, a second security company, Archer, and possibly a third company would also be added to the DWP contract.

McClain Hill, who previously served on the city's police commission, told the Times that she did not reveal any confidential information during the phone call and that her “Spotlight” comments came amid intense media scrutiny of Paradis Island. He said it was about protecting the honor of Mr. Dodson and Mr. Clark.

She told the Times that she got involved with Ardent because she had concerns about the judgment of Mr Wright, then the most senior official at DWP.

McClain-Hill also said he knew Southern California Public Power would choose Ardent as its vendor because Wright told him so before the April 5 conference call.

The power authority's cybersecurity committee formally recommended Ardent as a bidder on April 5. A few weeks later, on April 18, the Southern California Public Power Authority Board approved master contracts with Ardent and other companies.

Mr. McClain-Hill continued to communicate with Mr. Clark, and in a text message days before the DWP board vote, told him that Mr. Garcetti's office had broken the contract into three separate agreements, each with a double-digit sum. I told him that I didn't want to show it. Text dated April 19, 2019, confirmed by The Times.

“We will approve the second contract within 45 days and the third contract 45 days after that,” McClain-Hill wrote to Clark. “We're finally at the end of this road…I hope this works out for you.”

April 23, 2019.Mr. McClain-Hill, Mr. Levine, and other members of his DWP Board of Directors. Approved the power company's contract with ArdentArcher and another company.

Mr. Sharman, Mr. Levine's attorney, was asked: In response to arguments that commissioners should not have discussed the contract because DWP has final contract authority, Levine said they “fully complied with all applicable laws.”

“The record does not indicate any effort to unduly influence the contract process or engage in prohibited negotiations, and the record shows that DWP will continue to provide services by qualified professionals in which it has already invested time and money.” It shows a sincere effort to ensure that the

“Simply put, Mr. Mel did not want to leave the DWP vulnerable to cyber threats because the professionals they hired were intimidated by DWP bureaucracy or did not want to be paid. “That's because I was worried,” he said.

Sean McMorris, transparency, ethics and accountability program manager at California Common Cause, questioned why staff rather than the commissioners did not speak with Ardent.

“If we were to sit down and work out a contract and tell the company that we were going to vote for them and what the contract would look like, we would do that in private. It shouldn't happen,” he said.

“Even if it's legal, it doesn't seem appropriate,” McMorris added.