(Editor’s note: The City has found yet another way to harm it’s residents, with bills for services they don’t get on properties that are vacant. When they try to fight the charges, they’re told it will take eight months.)
Some residents might call this false advertising.
I am trying to calm down after talking to DWP… the most incompetent city services in the United States.
I had the water turned back on last October. I had kept my long-time gardener on to clear the burnt plants (requiring a special dumpster that took ‘toxic’ plants to a designated area) and then tidy up the rest of the lot.
With all of the rain, there were still plants able to survive. We decided to try and find plumbing to see if a spicket could be connected allowing the gardener to water and keep those plants growing. I thought neighbors would appreciate a lot with a garden of greenery instead of just dirt. It made me happy to know some of our beloved plants of 50 years were still growing out of the ash.
The gardener was able to find the line for water, attached a spicket, and DWP was called to turn on the water again. DWP did arrive timely and the water is now turned on officially.
Two months later I received a bill from DWP for $173.16. It included almost $140 for sewer charges. We have no sewer. We have no home.
DWP was called. I was told to call Sanitation. Sanitation asked if I mentioned that we had no home on the property. “Yes,” I said. “They were told that.”
A form entitled Residential Sewer Service Charge (RSSC) Request for Adjustment was sent to us, which we received two weeks after speaking to Sanitation, and returned filled in to DWP on January 24, 2026.
On February 6, we received an email from a Brian Pham at LAcity.org stating that they were in receipt of our from and to please allow ONE to TWO months for our request to be put into the system.
I called today after receiving a second bill from DWP for another two months of sewer charges (which we are obligated to pay).
I called Sanitation which now has new departments you must find your way through on your phone to speak with someone. I wanted to ask why it takes one to two months to input a request into the system.
After the usual wait on my phone a woman answered and told me what the email from Brian Pham did not say was that it takes 8 months for DWP to make a decision once our claim is put into the system!!
She gave me a phone number to call to speak with someone to see if the request could be expedited. (213-485-2405) I called. It is a recording telling you that it will take 8 months, etc. There is no one you can speak with.
Meanwhile, we pay every 2 months just to get a small amount of water to existing plants. I understand from another neighbor that she has a very long extension cord going to a neighbor across the street to run the pump they installed to keep their property from flooding away. She has filled out every form and is in constant contact with DWP, too.
When I think back about fleeing our home of 50+ years with firemen standing in front of it and no water coming out of our hose, a fire hydrant two houses away that was recently painted bright red but not checked for water pressure, it angers me. I still have trouble handling the fire. Years ago, when Riorden ran for office and knowing he was a builder, I called to ask if there were plans for the infrastructure in LA and renewing water lines, etc. He hung up on me.
A resident