L.A. official steered work to relatives - Nearly $800,000 in city contracts, often with inflated prices, went to family and firms with political ties, data show.

The manager, Victor Taracena, oversaw more than 150 contracts worth about half a million dollars that went directly to companies his brothers created, contract files show.

Seven other contracts worth $289,000 were awarded to non-family firms, two of which had little or no expertise in the work they were hired to do.

These firms -- all with ties to current or former Los Angeles City Council members from the Eastside -- won their contracts in bidding processes fraught with irregularities. In one case, a losing bid was submitted by a nonexistent company. Other such bids came from actual companies which, when contacted by The Times, said they were surprised to learn that bids had been submitted in their names.

Some purported bidders did not correctly spell their own names. And legitimate firms said their stationery had been obtained under false pretenses or fabricated.

"No, no, no, no," said George Sihvonen, a civil engineer who, contract files show, bid unsuccessfully on several jobs. "I haven't submitted any bids

The contracts involved design and construction of facilities to accommodate disabled people: wheelchair ramps, toilets and grab bars in city housing projects.

In numerous instances, the city housing authority appears to have overpaid for the services, based on comparisons with its counterpart in the county.

The overpayments -- amounting to more than $130,000 for toilets and grab bars alone -- mean that scores of disabled residents may have to wait longer for their apartments to be made appropriately accessible, officials said.

The authority is responsible for providing housing to about 60,000 of the city's poorest families. Though governed by a commission appointed by the mayor, the authority is a free-standing agency primarily funded by the federal government.

Taracena, who was recently fired from his $104,000-a-year job after a housing authority investigation, declined to comment, but his attorney, Marshall Rubin, said his client denies any wrongdoing. He would not elaborate.

Officials at the authority said they had referred Taracena's case to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office for possible prosecution.