LOS ANGELES : Auditor Vows Not to Pay All of DWP’s Food Bill

Managers at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power ran up an excessive food bill during last fall’s utility strike because of a lack of planning, poor decisions and sloppy bookkeeping, according to an audit released this week.

“It’s really quite outrageous,” said City Controller Rick Tuttle, who vowed to withhold payment on $178,000 of the $873,000 bill. “They were spending about $200 per person per day on food. They could have done a lot better than that.”

Tuttle called on DWP managers to repay $75,000 from their own pockets for food that was given away at the end of the nine-day strike. Tuttle’s financial review found that two catering companies, Lizzie’s Confections and Beck and Call Catering, overcharged the city more than $100,000.

Tuttle said some excess food was given away at the end of the strike to the Union Rescue Mission and the Midnight Mission, but that about $55,000 in extra food is still unaccounted for. “Where’s the beef?” he asked.

The audit also found $587 in other charges--for lobster, snow crab, salmon, videos and cigarettes--that Tuttle said the city treasury should not pay for.

DWP officials have emphasized that the utility was in an emergency mode in which a relatively small group of supervisors were doing the work of 10,000 striking workers. Many supervisors stayed inside the picket lines at DWP plants around the clock, making it necessary for food personnel to set up makeshift kitchens and work throughout the day and night.

“Our primary objective during that strike was to keep the water running and the power on,” said Michael Moore, director of public and governmental affairs. “We were very successful at that. We concur that serious flaws developed in the plan to provide food.”