Judge Orders L.A. Union to Release Nonprofits’ Records

A Los Angeles court handed city leaders a victory Tuesday in their battle to audit some $40-million in spending by two nonprofits affiliated with the municipal water and power agency, ordering the union that co-manages the groups to turn over financial records, the Los Angeles Daily News and the Los Angeles Times report.

Lawyers for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 said they could appeal the ruling by Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant after it becomes final on April 22. The labor group’s leader, Brian D’Arcy, has refused to provide documents related to the Joint Training Institute and the Joint Safety Institute, nonprofit trusts run by the union and the Department of Water and Power.

The union argues that the two entities, which are funded out of residents’ water and electricity bills, are not public agencies and thus not subject to state open-records laws. City Controller Ron Galperin issued a subpoena in January for the nonprofit’s books and bank records following media reports that spending by the groups had been subjected to little oversight.