Reporters with video cameras arrived at the Vermont Canyon tennis court complex in Los Angeles last week, to watch employees cleaning the courts using an industrial-strength hose and a scary excess of water. The court washing is a flagrant violation of recent water conservation laws implemented in the drought-ridden city. Department of Recreation and Parks spokeswoman Jane Kolb claimed that workers were trained on conservation measures last November and were deliberately violating the rules. Julie Butcher, the regional union director, says that the Department, however, has internally acknowledged that workers were not told to change their cleaning methods until after the reporters? appearance, and took offense to Kolb?s comment, saying it was ?cowardly to blame the workers.?
See "Parks workers ignore ?drought buster? law", Rich Connell, Los Angeles Times, September 2, 2008