DWP leads pack in awarding private sector contracts; L.A. Department of Airports comes in No. 2 on list.

The Department of Water & Power comfortably holds the top spot on The List of the top 25 L.A. city money-spending agencies, ranked by annual budgeted appropriations for private-sector contractual services.

The DWP, for fiscal 1994-95, budgeted $327 million for private sector contracts. The DWP contracts with private sector firms for such things as operation and maintenance, professional services, materials, supplies and equipment.

The Department of Airports is second on The List with $76.2 million in contracts.

Among the larger of the airport contracts are those for parking services. For example, Aamco Parking has a more than $10 million contract for parking operations, and Hudson Aviation Services Inc. has a $5 million-plus contract to provide parking shuttle service.

The really large airport contracts -- for such things as operation of duty-free shops and food and beverage services -- are not included in The List figures because those contractors pay the city a portion of their revenues (rather than being paid by the city to provide a service).

Administrative Deputy City Controller Tim Lynch noted that the Public Works Department's Bureau of Sanitation (ranked No. 10) would actually be listed No. 2 if contracts connected with the Hyperion wastewater treatment plant project were included in the city's general fund budget. The money for this project comes from the Sewer Capital Fund.

Much of the Hyperion construction work is being done currently by Kiewit Pacific Co. of Santa Fe Springs. Kiewit Pacific is completing work in 1995 on a $200 million Hyperion construction contract and has been awarded a second $70 million contract that will continue through 1997.

This month, the city is soliciting bids on $170 million in Hyperion work.

The No. 3 spot on The List is held by the Department of Pensions, which edged out the Public Works Department's Bureau of Street Maintenance.

Pensions Department General Manager Gary Mattingly said his department has approximately 25 contracts with investment managers, which invest the pension fund's $6 billion. Those contracts account for about $15.5 million of the annual contract budget of $17.1 million, he said. Other department contracts are for such things as audits and seminars.

Each of the investment management contracts runs for three years and is generally for less than $1 million per year. Mattingly said most contracts are renewed without competition.

In cases when the pensions department is unhappy with an investment manager, "we generally fire them in the middle of the contract," and a new firm is chosen through competitive bidding, he said.

Of the roughly 25 contracts, 17 expire in calendar year 1995 - 9 of those in fiscal 1995, Mattingly added.

Rounding out the top five departments is the city transportation department, with $9.9 million in private-sector contracts.

General Manager Robert Yates said the $9.9 million is the share of the department's regular operating budget that goes to private contractors. The money is spent on such things as parking meter and parking citation collections, and all the major contracts from that budget for the year have been let.

However, the department's really big contracts -- such as its $8.1 million contract with Laidlaw Transit Inc. for bus service -- are funded by county sales taxes and by the federal government, and therefore are not included in the reported budget figure, Yates said.