Former U.S. Rep Mel Levine Elected President of
Board of Water and Power Commissioners

Attorney William W. Funderburk Jr. Named Vice President

Levine was appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti to the Board on August 19 and confirmed unanimously by the City Council on September 11.

“With his wealth of experience and public service, Mel Levine will provide strong and skillful leadership to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. I would also like to congratulate William W. Funderburk on his election as vice president,” said LADWP General Manager Ronald O. Nichols. “We have many critical issues to work on as we transform the power and water supplies for Los Angeles. I am greatly looking forward to working with all the newly appointed and continuing Board members on critical water and power issues that are facing LADWP, and ensuring continued reliable water and power service at competitive rates for the people of Los Angeles.”

Named one of the “100 Most Influential” lawyers in California, Mr. Levine served as a member of the U.S. Congress from 1983 until 1993, and as a member of the California Assembly from 1977 to 1982.  He is a member of the California bar and the District of Columbia bar. He was a partner at the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher from 1993 – 2012 and continues to be of counsel to the firm.

Mr. Levine chairs the Advisory Board of the Center on Public Diplomacy at USC’s Annenberg School, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, and a Director of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

He has served as U.S. Chair of the U.S.-Israel-Palestinian “Anti-Incitement” committee established by the Wye Plantation peace agreement, as a Presidential appointee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, as a U.S. government appointee to the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Advisory Commission, as President of the American Friends of the (Yitzhak) Rabin Center in Israel, and as Board Chair of the Los Angeles Police Foundation.

Mr. Levine’s Congressional committee assignments included the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on the Interior and Insular Affairs. He served as Chair of the House Task Force on Exports. Mr. Levine founded and co-chaired Rebuild America, an educational foundation to improve American competitiveness by increasing support for high-technology industries, improving education and rebuilding infrastructure. Between 1993 and 1997, Mr. Levine served, at the request of Vice President Gore, as co-President of Builders for Peace, the private sector effort to assist the’ Middle East peace process.  His legislation included restoration of the Santa Monica Bay.

In the California Assembly, Mr. Levine was chair of the Energy subcommittee and author of California’s Conservation Tax Credit legislation and California’s Solar Rights Act.

Mr. Levine received his law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1969, a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University in 1966, and a bachelor’s degree cum laude from the University of California at Berkeley in 1964.

William Funderburk is a partner at the law firm of Castellon & Funderburk, handling government initiated and private party enforcement litigation and regulatory compliance. He has served on the National Phase II Storm Water Advisory Board, the California Environmental Liability Insurance Task Force and the Environmental Justice Legal Task Force, and the Los Angeles Environmental Crimes Sentencing Task Force. Funderburk has also served on the boards of the EnvironMentors Project, Wildlife on Wheels, and the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council.  Mr. Funderburk received his law degree from Georgetown University, and his undergraduate degree in Engineering and Applied Science from Yale University.

The Department of Water and Power is the nation’s largest municipally owned utility. The Board of Water and Power Commissioners establishes policy for the Department.  Commissioners are appointed by the Mayor and approved by the City Council.

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