The Pratt Effect? Woman Responsible for Empty Palisades Reservoir Gets Booted

A few weeks after a Los Angeles County judge ruled that a major lawsuit filed against the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and the State of California by Palisades Fire victims could go forward, LADWP's CEO, Janisse Quiñones, has been booted from her job.

 

That's not how the move is being spun, though. A joint statement from the City of Los Angeles and LADWP announced that Quiñones was leaving effective March 27, 2026, "as part of a planned leadership transition.

 " Quiñones is returning to Puerto Rico, where she was born and raised, "to take a leadership role supporting the modernization and transformation of the Island’s electric grid," which is the last thing that island needs.

Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt has been calling for Quiñones' resignation, firing, or prosecution since the fire, and is also gunning for Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom. Wednesday's announcement means there's one down, and two to go.

LADWP's Santa Ynez Reservoir, which holds 117 million gallons of water and supplies three tanks in the Palisades area, was empty for nearly a year before the inferno spread through the Palisades, killing 12 people and destroying more than 10,000 properties. There was a tear in the reservoir's floating cover, and though the repair would cost less than $200,000, somehow Quiñones wasn't able to get it done, leaving the reservoir empty and residents below unaware that their main mode of wildfire protection wasn't online.

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BOMBSHELL: Key Reservoir Was EMPTY When Palisades Fire Started, Contributed to Loss of Homes and Life

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That wasn't Quiñones' only failure related to the Palisades Fire. 

LADWP failed to de-energize its power lines after the fire started, which caused spot fires to ignite throughout the Palisades, making it more difficult for firefighters to contain the blaze and destroying additional homes. The utility claimed that power had been shut off, but multiple videos showed the arcing power lines, which nearly harmed at least one local news reporter, and the spot fires.

Attorneys for the fire victims were able to determine through Public Records Act requests what happened. From the Complaint:

After being instructed at 1:40 p.m. on January 7th to go to the Palisades substation to de-energize the electrical circuits, LADWP's patrolman did not arrive at the substation until 6:18 p.m., or approximately five and a half hours later. When the patrolman tried to de-energize the circuits, the outdated equipment failed, and he had to evacuate the substation without de-energizing any of the circuits because the fire was outside the substation. Twenty-two days later on January 29th, the patrolman went back into LADWP's computer log and attempted to alter the time that he arrived at the Palisades substation from 6:18 p.m. to 1:47 p.m., in an attempt to eliminate the 5-1/2 hour delay.

LADWP spokespeople claimed at the time that, "The system was never designed for a wildfire scenario that we are experiencing," but that's precisely why the Santa Ynez Reservoir was built, in the aftermath of the deadly Bel Air Fire.

In addition to the loss of life and property, Quiñones' failures also expose the utility and the city to multi-million dollar judgments in the lawsuit, but, of course, Mayor Karen Bass thinks she did a great job:

“Janisse brought steady leadership and engineering expertise to LADWP during a critical period for our city. Her focus on resilience, reliability, and strengthening the workforce has helped position the Department for continued progress. We thank her for her service to Los Angeles.”

Quiñones came to LADWP in May, 2024 from another beleaguered utility, Northern California's Pacific Gas & Electric, replacing Adams. While Adams was paid $435,000 a year, Quiñones was hired in at a salary of $750,000. At the time, LA City Council President Paul Krekorian said: 

"This council will be considering many important appointments that the mayor will be making, but very few will be as consequential as this one. Leadership of the DWP is absolutely vital to this city.''

Responding to criticism of the huge salary, Councilmember Kevin de León said LADWP needed to offer a competitive salary to attract top talent:

"Her salary without question is (nearly) doubled from her predecessor, but she comes from the private sector. She comes from an investor-owned utility where she could easily command twice that amount."

Unfortunately for Los Angeles residents, she really wasn't worth any amount.

Editor’s Note: Help us continue to report the truth about corrupt politicians like Karen Bass.