Meet Our New Commissioners

By Carol Tucker

In 2022, LADWP welcomed two new members to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. Both professional women who are highly acclaimed in their fields, Vice President Cynthia M. Ruiz and Commissioner Nurit Katz, were appointed to the Board in June and December 2022 respectively. The first Native American to serve on the Board, Ruiz is a past President of the Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (LACERS) Board of Directors and the Board of Public Works. Katz, who serves as Chief Sustainability Officer at UCLA, is an educator and sustainability professional who cares deeply about creating a sustainable, resilient and healthy region for all Angelenos. Contact reached out to Commissioners Ruiz and Katz to get to know them better.

Contact: Please share with us your background and experience that prepared you to be an LADWP Commissioner.

Ruiz: I consider it an honor to serve as Vice President of the LADWP Board. For nearly 20 years I have served the City of Los Angeles in various capacities—I have been the President of the Board for Public Works; I have been an Executive at the Port of Los Angeles and most recently I was the President of the Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (LACERS). I have also been an entrepreneur and know how to successfully operate a business. The combination of these experiences has provided me with a unique set of skills and experiences which make me a good fit on the LADWP Board. For example, I currently co-chair a Joint Task Force between Public Works and LADWP, which facilitates collaboration and partnership between the two departments.

Katz: My background in management and policy has given me tools and frameworks for understanding the complex regulatory and business challenges facing the Department. In my role as Chief Sustainability Officer (and previously Executive Officer of Facilities Management) for UCLA, I have worked on a breadth of relevant initiatives and collaborated with a wide range of LADWP staff—from a Statewide Energy Partnership with the University of California to a new Renewable Rate Agreement, to landscape conversions and water recycling. UCLA is in many ways like a small city and faces many of the same sustainability and resilience challenges, from aging infrastructure to decarbonization. I have also been directly involved in major LADWP planning initiatives by serving on the LA 100, One Water, and Strategic Long-Term Resource Plan advisory groups. I have also worked on relevant issues region-wide in collaboration with City and County departments, including the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment (LASAN).

Contact: What do you see as some of the biggest challenges LADWP is facing today?

Ruiz: In addition to the normal challenges of a large organization (staffing and budget), we are in unprecedented times with a historic drought, which strains our water supply and is requiring us to move in a direction of recycling and reuse. This will require us to build and implement many new projects with a quick turnaround time. On the Power side, we are facing the challenge of shifting to renewable energy, which will also require many new projects to come online with an accelerated timeline. However, I do believe that given our talented, dedicated and hardworking employees, we as an organization can handle these issues.

Katz: As I have just begun my role as Commissioner, I plan to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges facing the Department as I meet with key LADWP leaders. For now, stepping into the role, I see some of the biggest challenges as aging infrastructure, expanding electric capacity to meet the anticipated increase in electrical demand (especially with the electrification of buildings and transportation), water resilience and sustainability, and energy transmission and storage. The challenges ahead for the next generation of LADWP employees will be significant. These challenges will be worsened in the coming decades, especially as the impacts of climate change, such as wildfires and extreme heat, are intensified. We must address climate justice and disparate environmental impacts on our most vulnerable communities. All of these challenges need to be addressed in cost-efficient and equitable ways and in consideration of impacts to ratepayers and will require workforce development and training.

Contact: What are some of the key areas you would like to focus on as a Commissioner?

Ruiz: Building bridges and partnerships between Public Works and LADWP is something that I have already started working on. The bigger challenge, which will take more time, is building relationships and partnerships with Tribes, particularly in the Owens Valley where we have been seen as the enemy for so long. Although our goals may not align, there is no reason why we cannot work with them and be good neighbors, creating win-win situations. I also feel that Tribal partnerships may help us with our renewable energy goals, as they have land that potentially can be used for solar and wind farms. Many times, it can be daunting to navigate the bureaucracy of LADWP, so I feel that providing informational seminars to the Tribes could be helpful. I also serve on both the Audit and Personnel committees, which I feel can help the organization become better. Although I feel LADWP is a great company, I believe any organization can improve, particularly when it comes to the workforce.

Katz: I plan to continue to focus on sustainability, resiliency and equity, such as support for implementing Operation NEXT, LA100 and developing LA100 Equity Strategies. Many large organizations like LADWP and the City of Los Angeles can be quite siloed. Working on complex issues like sustainability and resiliency requires bridging those silos. One area I will focus on is bridging divisions and groups within LADWP and increasing collaboration with other City departments so we can more effectively address the critical issues facing our region. I will also focus on biodiversity and seek to build upon efforts by LADWP teams to research and document the species richness and connectivity roles of Department-owned lands, work with Tribes to incorporate traditional ecological knowledge in land management and restoration, and grow existing LADWP initiatives like Power for Pollinators. I also plan to further LADWP’s ongoing collaborations with academic institutions.