By Emilie St. John
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — The Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors has announced the recent addition of two new members to its 38-member board of directors.
Attorney Carl E. Douglas follows Heather Repenning, who represented Los Angeles on the board since December 2019, and water professional Garry Bryant succeeds Richard Atwater, who represented Foothill on Metropolitan’s 38-member board since April 2014.
“Throughout their careers director Bryant and director Douglas have shown their unwavering commitment to justice, advancing diversity, and driving positive change in our communities,” said Metropolitan board Chair Adán Ortega, Jr. “I’m confident that their presence on the board will enhance Metropolitan’s leadership in these important areas as we strive to address affordability and equitable supply reliability.”
Douglas is the founding partner of the Los Angeles-based Douglas/Hicks Law, specializing in personal injury, civil rights and criminal law matters. He has been acknowledged by the Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, and the John M. Langston Bar Association for his courtroom successes.
Douglas was appointed to the board of directors by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
He spoke with The Wave on the importance of being named to the board as one of the few African-American directors.
“I am thrilled, and certainly honored, that Mayor Bass has seen fit to appoint me as one of the five directors of the Metropolitan Water Board representing the city of Los Angeles,” Douglas said. “As I am learning how important these water issues are to all of Southern California, I look forward to adding my voice on behalf of the Los Angeles stakeholders.”
“As one of only a few African-American directors, I look forward to adding my unique perspective on the various and assorted water issues of the day,” he added.
He was previously the managing attorney at the law offices of Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Douglas also represented plaintiffs in state and federal courts in diverse civil litigation. Prior to joining Cochran’s office, Douglas was a trial attorney at the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Los Angeles and worked at the Federal Communication Commission in Washington, D.C.
Douglas earned a law degree from UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
Douglas’ firm represents the city of Compton in legal matters pertaining to allegations the Sheriff’s Department was overbilling the city for services that were not rendered, and his partner, Jamon Hicks, is a member of the Los Angeles County Civilian Oversight Commission.
Bryant has served on Foothill’s Board of Directors since 2011, chairing its engineering and operations committee and serving on the personnel committee. He also served on the Las Flores Water Company Board of Directors for more than two decades and is the current board secretary.
Bryant retired from Metropolitan as a principal project controls specialist in June after 21 years with the district. During his tenure in the Engineering Services group, he played a key role in budgeting and cost reporting for many of the group’s capital investment plan projects and led the project controls team in handling Metropolitan’s operation and maintenance, capital and reimbursable projects.
Emilie St. John is a freelance journalist covering the areas of Carson, Compton, Inglewood and Willowbrook. Send tips to her at emiliesaintjohn@gmail.com.