L.A. Union Wins Delay in Release of Financial Records

The largest union representing Los Angeles water and power workers won a last-minute reprieve Tuesday from a court order mandating that it submit financial records from a pair of union-led trusts to government auditors, reports The Los Angeles Times.

The ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeals came on the day the union’s leader, Brian D’Arcy, was set to be interviewed under oath by auditors investigating how the nonprofit groups have spent more than $40-million in ratepayer money. The appeals court stayed a March 26 lower-court ruling authorizing the interview and a review of the trusts’ books.

Mr. D’Arcy has been fighting a monthslong effort by city leaders to scrutinize spending by the Joint Training Institute and the Joint Safety Institute, which are co-managed by the union and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The union argues that the trusts are not government agencies and thus not subject to open-records laws. The appeals court instructed the city and the union to submit additional written arguments in the case by May 28.