VX News is the editorial voice of the annual VerdeXchange Conference, featuring in-depth interviews with industry leaders and policymakers driving innovation in clean energy, water, transportation, and climate policy.
L.A. County CAO (fmr) David Janssen on Measure G: ‘We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know’
In 2028, Los Angeles County voters will elect the county's first executive, the centerpiece of Measure G, the charter amendment that narrowly passed in November 2024. Few people understand the job being redesigned better than David Janssen, who ran the county bureaucracy as chief administrative officer from 1996 to 2007 after 13 years in San Diego County's CAO office. TPR reached out and asked him “What problem the LA County Reform is purportedly meant to solve; whether Measure G, the skeleton reform offered, is likely to solve it; and, whether any charter reform can solve the reform challenges described.”
VX Excerpt: Beyond Watershed Planning – Engaging Communities to Improve Outcomes of the LA County’s “Safe Clean Water Program”
As stormwater capture becomes Los Angeles County's principal strategy for managing flood risk, water quality, and local supply, the question of whether Measure W dollars are being deployed at watershed scale – or project by project – has become central to the program's next decade. VX News here excerpts Beyond Watershed Planning, Los Angeles Waterkeeper's assessment of the LA County Flood Control District's Safe Clean Water Program, drawn from five community workshops across four watersheds, which finds the $280-million-a-year program too reactive in structure and recommends a proactive 20-year investment cycle, clearer metrics, stronger greening targets, and deeper community and Tribal engagement.
VX Excerpt: The Future of Clean Hydrogen in Los Angeles
Maressa Brennan provides independent oversight over rate making and investment decisions for the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP). Brennan’s article in the Ratepayer Advocate’s Office Blog discusses the clean energy future of Los Angeles in the wake of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) cancelling up to $1.2 billion in federal funding for California’s clean hydrogen hub.
50L Home Pilot Offers Roadmap for Policy, Funding, and Cultural Change
VX News highlights the U.S. Green Building Council California’s (USGBC-CA) published results from its 50 Liter Home pilot project in Los Angeles—a proof-of-concept and replicable model showing how households can achieve dramatic water savings while maintaining comfort and quality of life.
