Water and Power Associates Informing the Public about Critical Water and Energy Issues facing Los Angeles and California

William Mulholland Public Service Award

For the past 20 years, Dorothy Fuller has been the editor of the Water and Power Associates (W&PA) newsletter.  Editing the newsletter is a time-consuming job that involves design, layout, selection of type, choosing art, finding graphics, seeking and organizing editorial material, and making optimum use of available newsletter space.  For Dorothy, editing also included publication and distribution.  The newsletter is sent to all our members and to public officials, as one of the ways of carrying out our purpose of advising the community of significant matters affecting water and power in Los Angeles.

Dorothy’s services have been invaluable, cheerfully given, and always voluntary.  Due to seriously impaired health, sadly, she is no longer able to edit the newsletter

What many of our members may not be aware of is the wide range of voluntary activities Dorothy has always been engaged in for community benefit.  Until recent years, Dorothy also edited the newsletter of the Muses, an organization which provices financial and public support for the California Science Center (originally, the California Museum of Science and Industry) where she served for many years as a museum volunteer.  Dorothy served on the Community Police Advisory Board and was Neighborhood Watch President.  Since retirement, Dorothy has served the City’s Personnel Department, as part-time interviewer for entering City employees, including uniformed personnel.  While working for DWP, she served as LADWP representative in several community organizations, including: National Postal Systems Forums, Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals, Los Angeles Credit and Collections Bureau, and the American Association of Blacks in Energy.

As a member of the Board of Directors, Dorothy recognized the indispensable need for a booklet for Board members which would give each director a copy of the Articles of Incorporation, By-laws, membership roster, and contact information for directors, DWP management, and local public officials.  So, in the year 2000 she published the first Board information booklet.  Since then, she has published an updated booklet annually.  Dorothy for years actively participated in all meetings and W&PA activities, including, among other things, advocating the working for the development of a DWP brick and mortar museum to preserve and inform the Los Angeles community of DWP history and contributions to the growth of Los Angeles.  With the support of the Associates (under the able leadership of President Jerry Gewe) the DWP and the County Museum of Natural History are now taking initial steps towards creating the museum, with space set aside in the El Pueblo de Los Angeles historic monument for its location.

It is time we publicly recognize and thank you, Dorothy, for the wide range of volunteer services you have given as a member of the Los Angeles community.  We thank you for all the time, energy, and devotion you have expended in support of the Associates, the Associates newsletter, the Board information booklet, and the Water and Power Associates goal to increase public knowledge and understanding of the history of Los Angeles and the continuing contributions of LADWP to enhance the City’s well-being.  Thank you, Dorothy.

Distinguished Service Award

On April 1, 2005, Tom retired from LADWP.   After his retirement, Tom was not ready to totally retire, so he went to work for Lindsay Systems in Azusa as a consultant in the field, what he referred to as his “little job.”  Also, In keeping with his love for LADWP and the electric power industry, Tom joined the Water and Power Associates.   By October 2005, Tom was a member of the Board of Directors.  In keeping with his activist nature, Tom was an active Board member.  By October 2008, he was a vice president, and from 2009-2010, Tom was president.  As a Board member, Tom contributed regularly to the Associates newsletter, with information on current electrical news, including legislative actions affecting power such as environmental and conservation concerns.  

On our website (waterandpower.org) you can read many articles written by Tom in past issues of the newsletter.  At monthly meetings, Tom would update the Board on the latest developments and practice changes in provision of public power.   It was Tom’s nature to keep up on such changes both through the general press as well as professional publications.   Tom was interested in power not just from the technical sense but also from its service for the welfare of society.   He was concerned about how proposed changes of methods of production and distribution of power designed to improve the environment impacted the cost of the power to the public ratepayers, particularly those with limited incomes.  Recently, he was interested in methods to improve fire prevention in connection with the serious impact of forest fires on the power industry.