City Balks as Tab for DWP Meals During Strike Rises to $800,000 : Finances: Controller says he will withhold payment of half the bill until questions are answered.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s food tab from the recent strike has risen to nearly $800,000, and City Controller Rick Tuttle vowed Thursday to withhold payment on about half of it until he is convinced it was spent properly.

Tuttle has immediate and direct control over the $321,738 in bills that have not been paid. He has already decided not to pay for $75,000 worth of food provided to employees the day after the strike ended.

Referring to the Sept. 10 food giveaway as an “outrageous food fest,” Tuttle said the DWP went beyond its authority in attempting to charge this cost to the city’s utility ratepayers.

“Public money was used to buy food and then it was given away as a P.R. gesture,” Tuttle said. “That was unnecessary.”

The DWP said the food was given out in an attempt to bring together the warring factions.

“Our rationale was that there were strong feelings on both sides of the picket line,” said Michael Moore, DWP’s director of public and governmental affairs. “Our objective was to get these folks working together again.”

Meanwhile, a public relations consultant was hired by the company that provided the bulk of the catering during the strike. The spokesman, Brooke Halpin, said Beck and Call Catering Service was being unfairly drawn into the dispute. Halpin said the company agreed on a contract with the DWP--and Beck and Call should not be criticized for it.

“The company serves gourmet food,” Halpin said. “You have to pay for quality. This was not a greasy barbecue.”

Tuttle’s review of DWP financial records comes after several Los Angeles City Council members called for an audit of one particular food bill--$281,000 for food provided by Beck and Call to 260 supervisors sequestered in DWP plants during the walkout. That figure amounted to more than $120 per person in food each day of the strike, city officials complained.

On the defensive for days, DWP officials have stressed that the utility was in an emergency mode in which a group of about 500 supervisors were doing the work of about 10,000 striking workers. Many of the supervisors stayed inside the picket lines at DWP plants around the clock, necessitating food personnel to set up makeshift kitchens and work through the day and night.

On top of everything, at least 50 supervisors at one Downtown DWP facility contracted gastrointestinal illness in the days immediately after the strike, and county health officials suspect that the food they ate is responsible for their fever, diarrhea, cramping and vomiting. Three of the managers have confirmed cases of shigella infection, a bacteria spread through poor food-handling techniques. A number of suppliers brought in food during the strike, but officials have not determined which, if any, is to blame.

One waiter at the facility where the illnesses broke out complained to The Times on Wednesday that supervisors gorged themselves with food, piling their plates so high that food fell onto the floor. But that apparently was not the rule. Catering employees who worked at other DWP facilities scattered throughout the city said the utility employees they served were well-mannered diners.

The spotlight on the DWP prompted Tuttle to begin his audit even before receiving a formal request from the council, which is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the matter. Calling his review wider ranging than that requested by the council, Tuttle said he plans to review all of the food charges stemming from the nine-day strike and the procedures used in awarding the food contracts.

Some DWP critics have complained that the company awarded emergency contracts for food service during the strike with no competitive bidding even though the utility had been gearing up for a walkout for more than a year. Plans should have been in place ahead of time, the critics say.

Previous audits conducted by the controller’s office in recent years have been critical of contracting practices and lavish spending within the nation’s largest public utility.

Council members initially criticized Beck and Call’s bill, but at least two other contractors also provided food service during the walkout. Lizzie’s Confections & Catering and Mariott Services Corp. also participated and their bills will be reviewed, Tuttle said.

Lizzie’s, which initially handled catering during the strike but was replaced by Beck and Call, has billed the city for $118,300. Marriott, DWP’s in-house contractor and the one that gave away $75,000 in food at management’s request, has billed the city a total of $387,519.

The food charges are just a small portion of the millions of dollars the DWP spent to keep the utility running during the walkout. Along with significant overtime payments to employees, the DWP doled out $447,000 for extra security guards, $225,580 to videotape the picket lines and $121,000 for rented trailers to house supervisors at DWP plants, officials said.