LOS ANGELES : City Council Delays Debate on Paying DWP Party Tab

The Los Angeles City Council delayed a debate Wednesday on whether to pay a $60,000 tab for meals provided to utility workers during a post-strike party after a nine-day walkout last fall.

By a 6-7 vote, the council refused to override the Department of Water and Power board’s decision to pay the bill, though many council members previously denounced it as an unnecessary expense.

The council’s Governmental Efficiency Committee discussed the matter. The full council will take up the issue again in a few days when city Controller Rick Tuttle presents the bill.

“I don’t know how this thing is going to be resolved, but I think the council is unanimous in feeling that the charges incurred by DWP are out of order,” Councilman Hal Bernson said. Tuttle said he would not sign the check because he regards the expense as “a gift of public funds.”

The city’s attorneys are expected to argue that the city is liable, especially because the caterer, Marriott Corp., sued and agreed to settle for 20% less than the original $75,000 bill.

Councilman Joel Wachs, a longtime critic of the DWP, said he still expects a majority of his colleagues to vote against payment. He dubbed the entire affair “Muffingate.”

Since fall, DWP officials have defended offering the free meals as a means of making peace between employees who walked out and those who crossed picket lines.