Why do two separate City Hall items when they can merge into one? The City Council just voted 11-3 to approve the increases in Department of Water and Power rates. This could make general manager David Nahai's lunch talk tomorrow at Town Hall Los Angeles a bit more interesting and better attended. (I was going anyway.) The Council also solved the Chick-Cardenas impasse and moved gang programs under the mayor's office, as controller Laura Chick recommended. "The winners today are the people of Los Angeles," Chick crowed. "I applaud Councilmember Cardenas for his dedication to this issue."

