Last May, Hews Media Group-Community News exclusively reported that the Water Replenishment District, based out of Lakewood, had paid nearly $10 million in legal fees since 2012. One of the biggest recipients was Los Angeles-based Harris & Associates and its principal owner, John W. Harris, billing the water agency nearly $2 million in less than two years.
It was reported that Harris billed the District over $700,000 – $87,000 per month – in an eight-month span.
Inside sources also told us that Harris was “cut off” in late April 2014, subsequently engaged in dispute negotiations, and came under an “independent investigation” related to the massive legal fees.
Many in the water industry knew about the investigation at the time.
But our May story apparently did not cause concern at Central Basin Municipal Water District.
During today’s “special meeting,” the Central Basin Board will consider Harris as the District’s Special Counsel to Conduct Ethics Investigations, even though the dark cloud of overbilling the Water Replenishment District hangs over Mr. Harris’s head.
More egregious, the hiring will basically give Mr. Harris a blank check to conduct investigations because the Central Basin Board “cannot tamper” with any ethics investigation.
Water veteran, Kevin Hunt, Central Basin genera manager, who surprisingly did not know about Harris’s overbillings, told us, “we were out of loop on this. The firms were selected by (Central Basin’s law firm) Nossaman, based on the criteria we gave them.”
The Nossaman attorney in charge of vetting the law firms, Alfred E. Smith II, told us in a phone interview, “I had no prior knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Harris, but thank you for letting me know.”
Dispute Negotiations
The dispute negotiations with Harris started in late 2014 when the Water Replenishment District Board, led by President Sergio Calderon, Director Rob Katherman, and Director Albert (Lil Al) Robles, hired Los Angeles-based Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton as “independent counsel” to investigate the alleged overfilling by Harris.
No one at the Water Replenishment District questioned the fact that Sheppard was also involved with the Water Replenishment District on other water-related legal matters and that a true independent counsel was not hired.
But the apparent conflict of interest, even though questionable, would not be a factor in the investigation.
Mr. Hews may be contacted at loscerritosnews.net
