The exclusive conference at the Beverly Hilton in April 2023 promised speeches from top business leaders, including Earvin “Magic” Johnson, as well as poolside cocktails, canapes and a Mediterranean dinner.
Among the attendees were several Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials — including then-DWP board President Cynthia McClain-Hill, who opted for a $980 food, drink and gifts package for the three days of the International Utilities and Energy Conference.
Under city ethics rules, McClain-Hill was not allowed to accept substantial gifts from the conference host, Accenture, because the global consulting company holds millions of dollars in contracts with the DWP.
She also couldn’t bill the DWP for the $980 package because the amount far exceeded the $60 daily limit that government workers could charge for meals while out working.
Ultimately, some DWP and Accenture staffers found a way for the DWP to pick up the tab, by mislabeling the invoices for McClain-Hill and another DWP official, according to current and former DWP workers.
The allegations involving the invoices were first made by a former DWP contractor in a California State Bar complaint against McClain-Hill and in a lawsuit against the DWP by employees accusing McClain-Hill of retaliation and harassment.
McClain-Hill denied any wrongdoing. She has also denied wrongdoing in connection with the lawsuit.
“My attendance at the multi-day conference hosted by Accenture for its global clients in the utility sector was related entirely to my responsibilities at DWP and served no personal purpose or objective,” she said in an email.
She added that she “requested departmental approval through normal staff channels” to cover the costs of the Beverly Hills conference.
In her 5½ years on the DWP board, McClain-Hill joined her colleagues in voting in favor of at least three separate contracts for Accenture, DWP records show.
Accenture representative Joseph Dickie declined to comment. A DWP spokesperson also declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
Attorney Brad Gage, who is representing former DWP employees in the lawsuit, called the department’s handling of the invoices “morally wrong.”
The DWP has been racked by scandals over the last few years, with two former top officials serving prison sentences for their roles in bribery schemes. A former board commissioner is facing state bar disciplinary charges in connection with an alleged quid pro quo deal.
McClain-Hill, an attorney and former police commissioner, resigned from the DWP board in January after The Times reported on an incident involving private conversations she had with a DWP contractor.
Emails reviewed by The Times show how managers at Accenture, which has billed the DWP more than $5 million in recent years for cybersecurity and technology contracts, closely worked with the DWP to relabel the invoices for the $980 food, beverage and gift packages.
Accenture originally submitted invoices labeled “Food and Beverage” fee for McClain-Hill and Winifred Yancy, a DWP director who attended the conference at McClain-Hill’s request.
At the request of a DWP staffer, Accenture later submitted new invoices for both officials, titled “Conference Registration” fee, when in fact the conference was free to attend.
Labeling the invoices as “registration” may have helped ensure that the DWP would reimburse Accenture, because the city covers employees’ costs to attend informational conferences.
The “Conference Registration” invoices were submitted only for McClain-Hill and Yancy and not for any other DWP officials who attended the conference, according to records reviewed by the Times.
One conference attendee, who didn’t sign up for the $980 package and requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media, told The Times that there was plenty of free food, snacks and water at the event.
In April, during a deposition in the lawsuit against the DWP, attorneys asked McClain-Hill about the Accenture invoices. She declined to answer, saying that the city’s Ethics Commission may have launched an investigation.
A representative for the Ethics Commission declined to comment, citing a policy not to confirm or deny any investigations.
According to the internal DWP emails reviewed by The Times, Michelle Smith, Accenture’s business development director, invited McClain-Hill to the conference on March 16, 2023.
In a follow-up email to DWP staff a few days later, Smith said there was no “conference fee.”
And, she said, considering “the importance of compliance regarding government client attendees,” there was an option to decline the food, beverage and “small giveaway” package valued at $980.
Under city ethics rules, a city commissioner who votes on contracts can accept a maximum of $100 in gifts annually from a contractor such as Accenture.
McClain-Hill sought advice from DWP General Counsel Julie Riley about going to the conference, the emails show.
“Can I do this or does it implicate gift rules,” McClain-Hill emailed Riley on March 16, 2023.
Riley replied that the conference was considered informational, so the free registration was not a gift. However, hospitality did fall in the gift category, Riley wrote.
McClain-Hill could accept up to $100 worth of meals and beverages from Accenture, Riley advised, or she could accept more hospitality and reimburse the company with her own money.
McClain-Hill later sent an email to DWP staff indicating that she wanted to pay for the hospitality package. She also told the staff to invite Yancy, who oversaw energy and electrification business at the utility.
Days before the conference, Accenture’s Smith sent a $980 invoice to the DWP, labeled “Food and Beverages” for McClain-Hill.
But McClain-Hill declined to pay, the emails show.
“We have a budget for this … the Department will be paying for this not me personally,” McClain-Hill wrote to an aide.
A handful of DWP staffers exchanged a flurry of emails about how to deal with the situation. At one point, they considered using a DWP credit card.
“May you please provide some guidance on how I can get these invoices paid?” a staffer wrote to her supervisor.
On March 31, 2023, LaTanya Bogin of the DWP emailed Accenture’s Smith and asked to speak by phone.
Minutes later, Bogin emailed Smith again.
“Thank you for calling me. Can you send over an invoice to state the following: Conference Registration Fee for Cynthia McClain-Hill/Winifred Yancy @$980 each?” wrote Bogin, then an executive assistant and president of the DWP’s retirement board plan.
Amanda Nicolls, Accenture’s managing director, sent the invoices a few hours later.
Bogin didn’t respond to requests from The Times for comment. Yancy, who has retired from the DWP, declined to comment.
McClain-Hill stepped down in January after The Times reported on criticism leveled against her and then-DWP board President Mel Levine over a secretly recorded phone call the pair had in 2019 with two cybersecurity executives to walk them through plans to award their company a new contract with the DWP.
The city’s ethics law bars commissioners from privately reviewing contracts with vendors. McClain-Hill and a representative for Levine said the call was proper.
Paul Paradis, a former DWP contractor turned cooperating witness, is believed to have recorded the phone call. Paradis also filed the State Bar complaint against McClain-Hill over the Accenture invoices and other allegations.
Although McClain-Hill backed some Accenture contracts, she did not always act in the company’s favor. Five months before the conference, McClain-Hill led her board colleagues in delaying an $11-million contract to the company amid questions about whether the agreement had been properly vetted by DWP attorneys.
Jamie York of Unrig LA, which advocates for transparency in government, reviewed the internal emails about the conference at The Times’ request. She said that public officials have an obligation to spend money wisely.
“You have a public official who is less focused on their fiduciary duty to the city and more on their personal comfort,” York said of McClain-Hill.