Robbins Outlines Political Strategy to Thwart Trolley

State Sen. Alan Robbins said Thursday he would use his legislative muscle to force transportation officials to start Metro Rail construction in the Valley next year and abandon a proposal to build a trolley on Chandler Boulevard in North Hollywood.

First, Robbins (D-Van Nuys) said, he has worked out an agreement to be appointed to the state Transportation Commission. Secondly, he said, he plans to introduce legislation to abolish the county Transportation Commission and transfer its job of building and financing mass-transit projects to the county Board of Supervisors. His bill also would require the election of Southern California Rapid Transit District board members, starting in 1990.

Robbins said he will present his proposals at a meeting today of the county Transportation Commission’s rapid transit committee. The meeting is expected to draw hundreds of Valley residents opposed to a recommendation by the commission’s staff to build a trolley line on Chandler Boulevard, a residential street in North Hollywood.

Besides supporting his constituents who oppose the Chandler Boulevard trolley, Robbins is angry at the 11-member county Transportation Commission for considering an effort to repeal a law he authored in 1984. That law requires Metro Rail construction in the Valley to begin within a year of the start of construction at the downtown end, which began Sept. 29.

On Thursday, Robbins persuaded Sen. Wadie Deddeh (D-Chula Vista), who normally would serve as the Senate’s appointee on the state Transportation Commission, to temporarily step aside to allow Robbins to take his place. The appointment is subject to the approval of the Senate Rules Committee when it meets next month.

For weeks, Robbins has been involved in a behind-the-scenes struggle to win the Senate Rules Committee appointment to the 11-member state commission.

By custom the Senate slot, a non-voting position on the commission, would go to Deddeh, the new Senate Transportation Committee chairman. Indeed, last week Deddeh said the commission spot “goes with the territory, and by the territory I mean the chairmanship of the Transportation Committee.”

Change of Heart

But Thursday Deddeh had changed his mind.

Deddeh said he and Robbins met Wednesday with Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, which makes the appointment to the commission.

Deddeh said a compromise was worked out so he “would step aside from the commission on a temporary basis” and Robbins would take the seat in order “to protect” Metro Rail in his district.

“I don’t know if it’s one month, one year or six months. . . . That would have to be worked out among the three of us,” Deddeh said. Deddeh said the compromise was hammered out in a “friendly atmosphere.”

“I eventually get what I want, Robbins gets what he wants . . . and everyone’s face is saved without any blood being spilled,” Deddeh declared.

Robbins said his goal in seeking the commission job is “harassment” of the RTD and county Transportation Committee to ensure that they follow the law he authored requiring construction of the Valley end of Metro Rail to begin next year.

Robbins said that, in January, when RTD executives and the county commission must appear before the state commission, they would face “aggressive” questioning from him and Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda), who also serves on the commission and is chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee.

“I would not be a voting member, but our smiling, friendly faces would encourage them to comply with the law--nicely, gently.”

But, if the local officials “don’t give the right answers,” he said, he will act “not so nicely and not so gently.”

Roberti was unavailable for comment, but a Rules Committee source confirmed that Robbins and Deddeh seem to have worked out an agreement with Roberti.

Meanwhile, Robbins said Thursday that when the Legislature reconvenes Dec. 1 he plans to introduce a bill to abolish the county Transportation Commission and require an elected RTD board.

The 11-member county commission was created in 1976 by the Legislature. The five county supervisors are members of the commission, as are the mayor of Los Angeles and a member of the Los Angeles City Council.

However, they often appoint someone, usually an aide, to sit in their place. This, Robbins contends, allows elected officials to try to evade the blame for controversial decisions.

Other members of the county commission include a citizen representative appointed by the mayor of Los Angeles, a representative appointed by the City of Long Beach and two members representing the other cities in the county.

“I believe government agencies should be run by boards elected by the people,” Robbins said. “When someone is elected, there is a lot . . . they think twice about.”

The staff of the county commission has recommended that the commission consider extending a trolley line down Vineland Avenue from Chandler Boulevard in North Hollywood to Universal City in lieu of building the Valley part of Metro Rail. The commission staff estimates that it could shave $250 million off the total $3.3 billion cost of the subway by running it only to Universal City instead of to North Hollywood.

Without the savings, the commission staff has said, there may be no money to build a proposed trolley line from the Metro Rail terminus westward through the Valley to Warner Center.

The staff recommended Chandler Boulevard as the route through North Hollywood because, unlike the alternatives--Burbank and Victory boulevards--it already has railroad tracks. About 250 people, many of them owners of homes in the Chandler Boulevard area, protested the proposed route at a meeting in the Valley Tuesday night. The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday unanimously asked the commission to take a second look at alternatives to Chandler Boulevard.