South O.C. Agency Pays for Parties : Accounting: Board member calls for guidelines to cover business expenses.

The general manager of the South East Regional Reclamation Authority, which oversees waste water treatment in south Orange County, bills the agency an average of $970 a month for meals and travel expenses, business records show.

William P. Becker said his dining expenses, which include breakfasts, lunches and dinners and sometimes alcoholic beverages, are a reasonable cost of doing business. The bills are approved by the agency’s board of directors.

Becker said most of his meals are with board members, who include Walter W. (Bill) Knitz, the general manager of the Santa Margarita Water District. Knitz was put on paid leave Friday because of questionable spending practices and possible conflicts of interest. His assistant, Michael P. Lord, was similarly disciplined.

A review of available South East Regional Reclamation Authority expense accounts between August, 1991, and February of this year showed that Becker’s expenses totaled at least $18,460. Records for October, 1992, could not be located on Friday, agency officials said. Most of the claims for reimbursement are for restaurant meals in Orange County.

Among the costs reimbursed by the board were a $2,366.21 employee Christmas party Dec. 5 at the Mission Viejo restaurant La Ferme, and a $1,176.63 holiday party on Dec. 11, also at La Ferme, for employees of another water treatment and reclamation agency managed by Becker.

One member of the authority’s board of directors, Lloyd Woerner, requested at Thursday’s board meeting that the agency draw up its first guidelines for business expenses. Woerner said he was motivated by stories published in The Times that detailed how Knitz and Lord have been reimbursed for tens of thousands of dollars in questionable expenses over the past decade and have received more than $46,000 in gifts from companies that have been awarded contracts with the district.

The revelations have sparked a joint investigation by the FBI and the Orange County district attorney’s office into whether the managers traded gifts for contracts. Knitz and Lord have said the gifts had no impact on their votes.

“The reason I did this is not to point fingers or suggest any impropriety, but it will be good to have guidelines in place,” Woerner said.

He added, however, that meetings over meals or drinks can serve an important purpose.

Woerner, chairman of the board’s finance committee, said he finds it more convenient to meet over coffee or a beer when trying to juggle his busy schedule as an engineer with that of Becker, who manages three separate water treatment districts.

“I’m willing to take some flak, but it’s the board’s responsibility to set some policies. We’ve been remiss,” Woerner said.

Policies are needed, Woerner said, because “something that might seem extravagant and unnecessary to me may seem appropriate to others. We need guidelines.”

Several of Becker’s expense reports cover trips to water-related conferences, such as a November, 1991, stay at the Chestnut Park Hotel in Toronto for several days that cost $847.27. Becker attended two such conferences in January of this year, when a stay at the Wyndham Palm Springs cost $408. It was followed by another stay for two at the Palm Springs Hilton Hotel costing $456.11, according to the hotel billing statement.

Officials for the agency said some receipts that would provide more detail on the expenses--such as dates or length of trips--were not readily available because of the confusion caused by the organization’s recent move to a new office.

Expense account receipts show that Becker frequently dines with the agency’s six board members, sometimes twice in one day.

On Sept. 4, 1991, he concluded a meeting regarding finance committee matters at 4:14 p.m. at the El Adobe in San Juan Capistrano, according to a $10 credit card statement. That was followed by a dinner meeting with board chairman John Wiper at La Ferme that cost $129.96, according to a credit card statement.

Becker said that, although he does not prefer to do business over lunch or dinner, he believes the practice ultimately saves money. Business often flows more smoothly in an informal setting than in the newly furnished board room or meeting room at the authority’s office on Rancho Viejo Road, he said.

“To me, this is the policy because the board gives me the credit card, they approve my expenses, they call me up and say, ‘Hey, let’s have lunch at blankety blank,’ and they expect me to pay,” Becker said.