LOS ANGELES, July 21, 2003 -- Dominick W. Rubalcava, a renowned Latino community leader and passionate advocate for the Department of Water and Power, was elected president of the City of Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners. The vote for Rubalcava was accompanied by the election of prominent Asian American business and community leader Leland Wong as vice-president.
Rubalcava has served on the Commission for six years, and held the position of vice president for the past three years. As president of the Commission, Rubalcava will lend his expertise and leadership in finance, water, and environmental concerns to guide the Department as it works to implement Mayor Jim Hahn's vision to promote clean air, low rates, renewable energy, water quality, and customer service. The Department will also contend with rising natural gas prices and the need for enhanced security, among many other challenges.
"I want to express my gratitude to Mayor Jim Hahn and my fellow commissioners for their support," Rubalcava said. "At LADWP, we like to say 'We're working for L.A.' because we're proud to serve the greatest city in the world. As president, my focus will be on the issues that matter to our customers: Low rates, reliable service, environmental improvement and boosting the economy."
Rubalcava is an attorney with law offices in Santa Monica. He served as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles from 1973 to 1977, and has been in private practice since 1977.
Rubalcava has served the City of Los Angeles under three mayors. Prior to serving on the LADWP Commission, Rubalcava was a member of the Los Angeles Transportation Commission from 1996 to 1997, and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission from 1989 to 1993. He also served on the Los Angeles Harbor Commission and on the Los Angeles Fire Commission.
Rubalcava is very active in civic, community and professional activities. He is past board chairman for the Brentwood School and has been a former board member with the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School, UCLA School of Law, Children's Home Society and The Constitutional Rights Foundation.
A graduate of the University of Southern California, Rubalcava received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California Los Angeles, School of Law. He is a Member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Mexican-American Bar Association and Criminal Courts Bar Association. He also has served on several Los Angeles County Bar Committees.
Leland Wong was elected vice president of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. Another veteran city leader, Wong was appointed by Mayor Hahn to the Commission on March 12, 2003. Wong previously served the City of Los Angeles on the Board of Airport Commissioners, the Board of Harbor Commissioners and the Board of Fire and Police Pensions Commissioners.
Wong is director of Government and Community Relations for the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, Southern California Region. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente in 1987, he served as chief of staff for Los Angeles City Councilman Robert Farrell; executive director of California Tomorrow, a statewide public policy organization, and director of public policy for United Way, Inc. of Los Angeles.
Fellow LADWP Board Commissioners include: Kenneth Lombard, (the outgoing Commission President), president of Johnson Development Corporations; Annie Cho, founder and president of Jin Woo Communications Group, a Public Relations agency; and Sid Stolper, business manager and secretary-treasurer for the Southern California Pipe Trades.
"I want to salute Ken Lombard for his dynamic leadership as commission president during the past two years," Rubalcava said. "The City of Los Angeles and LADWP were fortunate to have the guidance of a business and community leader of the caliber of Ken Lombard during the past two years, and I am grateful that he will continue to serve the Department."
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the nation's largest municipally owned utility, serves more than 3.8 million customers in Los Angeles. LADWP was established more than 100 years ago to provide water and electricity to meet the needs of the city's businesses and residents.
