Video that just surfaced from last summer shows that the head of the Los Angeles water utility was solely dedicated to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to "right the wrongs of the past... from an infrastructure perspective." Did these well-intentioned-sounding, though misplaced priorities compromise public safety in Los Angeles? Is that why the fire hydrants were dry in Pacific Palisades when hellacious fires broke out? Was wokeness the reason why the Palisades' reservoir sat dry and idle for nearly a year?
From the moment she was selected to be the CEO and Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP), Janisse Quiñones, saw her role "through the lens of equity... and social justice." Indeed, the woke mindset permeated the entire operation. But beginning in 2021, Mayor Eric Garcetti set the DWP — and all of the L.A. governmental superstructure — on the path of critical race theory. All thoughts, actions, and priorities were seen through the "lens of equity." Not equality, equity. The two are quite different.
Did that mindset play a role in decisions leading to the disastrous response to the firestorms?
Animated map shows a timeline of how large the Palisades Fire grew over just a few days.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 13, 2025
Over 100,000 people are still under evacuation orders.
The Eaton, Hurst & Palisades fires have spread to over 38,000 acres combined.
The death toll is currently 24, however Gavin Newsom… pic.twitter.com/XdtVsWONx3
It's a fair question because we've seen politically motivated water decisions before. In Maui, people whose homes were on fire and firefighters were denied water in the first five hours of the Maui firestorm in 2023.
Related: Shock Video: Newsom's 'Answer' to Hard L.A. Fire Questions Is to Censor People Asking Them
Let's go to the not-so-WayBack Machine when K. Kaleo Manuel, the key decision maker on water access on Hawaii's Commission on Water Resource Management, delayed releasing water to fight the Lahaina wildfires for five hours.
Manuel was a DEI and equity diehard. The New York Post reported that much was clear during a livestream debate at the University of Hawaii when he described water as a "sacred god" that "requires true conversations about equity… How do we coexist with the resources we have?” He said, "We can share it, but it requires true conversations about equity."
He didn't share it. He withheld it because... equity... though no other places were on fire.
That talk will get people killed. That's why there are plentiful memes changing the DEI label to DIE.
Nearly 100 people died in the Lahaina wildfires, and 2,200 homes were turned to ash.
Of the six Santa Ana wind-driven firestorms that broke out starting on Tuesday, Jan. 7, three remain active. The Eaton fire destroyed staid old homes in the Pasadena and Altadena areas. But the Pacific Palisades, some of the priciest real estate on the planet, along with homes along the Pacific Coast Highway (the PCH) in nearby Malibu, now look like a moonscape.
Pacific Palisades had an empty reservoir and dry fire hydrants.
Here's the water CEO, Quiñones, explaining how the tanks and fire hydrants went dry because of water pressure.
Here is #JanisseQuinones the #DEI Director of the LA Power & Water who is paid $750K saying that the three 1MG Water Storage Tanks could not be refilled fast enough. This water system is gravity fed. She never mentions that the 120MG Santa Ynex Reservoir was taken out of service.… pic.twitter.com/z565n8HjRA
— ThomasCamp_MAGA 🇺🇲 🦅🇺🇸 (@thomascamp_maga) January 11, 2025
Due to the hurricane-force winds from Santa Ana and the storm-created winds, no aircraft could be used in the first hours of the fire. That meant that nearby water sources were crucial.
Related: Can California Afford Its Luxury Beliefs After This? Let's Look at the Books.
The entire array of executives at the DWP were solidly behind all equity, social justice, and DEI efforts throughout the entire utility.
In the resurfaced video from last July, the CEO, Quiñones, sat for an interview and explained how equity and social justice are the prisms through which she views everything.
Interviewer: You call it powered by equity and I know it's been really important for the DWP to put an equity lens on everything.
Quiñones: Yes. Yeah, and that's the number one thing that attracted me to this role. It's important to me that everything we do is with an equity lens and social justice and making sure that we right the wrongs, that we've done in the past from an infrastructure perspective and that we involve the community in that process.
Here's a version of the video:
LA's $750,000-a-year water chief who allegedly oversaw the emptying of the Santa Ynez Reservoir, previously said the "number one" thing she cared about in her role was "equity."
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 11, 2025
No wonder why LA is burning. Every leader is a DEI hire.
During a recent podcast, Janisse Quiñones,… pic.twitter.com/dr9lWFS4a9
So why would the Palisades' Santa Ynez reservoir be the only one dry?
The DWP shut down the reservoir in February 2024 to repair the cover — a huge tarp. As I noted in this piece, Stunner: Why Was Pacific Palisades Reservoir EMPTY? It Gets Worse, the reservoir was left dry during the RFP and contract phase. Why? It took nine months to award the contract, which just happened in November. One of our VIP Platinum readers DM'd me at PJ Media with a story about another reservoir cover L.A. has tried: shade balls. I wonder if they had to empty that reservoir during the RFP process.
One more thing about the dry reservoir. The DWP now joins Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass in complaining about news stories and social media pieces that make them look bad. In my piece called Newsom's 'Answer' to Hard L.A. Fire Questions Is to Censor People Asking Them the governor asked Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to censor the people promulgating the "misinformation."
In a complaint about the "misinformation" about the fire coverage, the DWP issued a press release regarding its response.
It boils down to this:
- The fire hydrants had been working before the fire.
- The reservoir had to remain dry due to "to meet safe drinking water regulations." (Mission Accomplished!)
- Nobody ever told us we had to fight fires with the water.
- Hoo Boy, this climate change stuff really hurts our "water resilience."
- We demand an investigation on our response!
I plan to get to the bottom of #3.
It should be noted that the DWP has been plagued with scandal for more than a decade. Executives ran kickbacks, bribery, and extortion schemes, a billing "error" scandal was a fraud, and the FBI put people in prison for it. It has been hard to shake the utility's horrible reputation. DEI will do nothing to burnish that record.
When she was hired in May of 2024, Quiñones enthused, "Together, we will achieve our transformational goals and shore up our systems to fight climate change and deliver for the people of Los Angeles.” The 25-year veteran in the utilities business was described by DWP as "the first female Latina to lead LADWP as CEO."
Well, bully for her. The question is, can she keep the water running and the lights on?
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