UTILITY OVERCHARGED, EMPLOYEE SAYS.

Byline: James Nash Staff Writer

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is being overcharged for janitorial supplies through an exclusive contract with one vendor, a DWP custodial supervisor told a City Council committee Tuesday.

The supervisor, Sandra Miranda, was contradicted by her own bosses, who said the 4-year-old contract with Empire Cleaning Supply Co. for janitorial products was the best deal for the nation's largest municipal utility.

City Councilman Tony Cardenas, who chairs the council committee, said he plans to convene a meeting of DWP janitorial supervisors to determine whether the utility is getting the best deal for mops and cleaning supplies under a $1.75 million contract with Empire.

Miranda called the contract a bad deal.

``When we go to purchase something from Empire, it's always a lot more (cost) than it should be,'' she said. ``I'm being forced to exercise something that does not work for the department. It does not work for the custodial supervisors.''

Although the DWP has done business with Empire since 2000, the exclusive contract generated little criticism until June, when a DWP manager instructed janitorial supervisors to stop ordering supplies from other companies. Since then, Miranda and representatives of outside companies have claimed that the DWP is paying too much because it isn't bidding competitively for products.

Thomas Hokinson, the DWP's assistant general manager in charge of contracting, said the Empire contract saves money overall.

``The policy is,'' Hokinson said, ``we will use the contract that's in place to provide these things. What's been established is that's the best contract to save money for the department.''

Empire Cleaning Supply's chief executive officer, Jerry Elkind, said the DWP moved to impose order and consistency in purchasing janitorial supplies, which had been left to managers of the utility's far-flung network of warehouses.

``What's happened is, the (DWP warehouses) have been out of control,'' Elkind said. ``We're dealing with chemicals. ... We're not just talking about bidding laws; we're talking about environmental laws.''

James Nash, [phone]

james.nash(at)dailynews.com