Bradley Demands Changes in Transit Super-Agency Bill

Mayor Tom Bradley says he will oppose the Los Angeles County transit super-agency plan unless changes are made, an attitude that drew criticism Tuesday from the Los Angeles City Council’s main reorganization proponent, Councilman Michael Woo.

In general, Bradley wants the super-agency legislation to be much more specific in spelling out how the powerful new governmental body would operate in taking over the functions of the two feuding agencies now in charge of Los Angeles County transit operations, the Southern California Rapid Transit District and the county Transportation Commission.

The mayor’s reservations were expressed in a letter to Chairman Wadie P. Deddeh (D-Chula Vista) of the Senate Transportation Committee, which will vote soon on the Assembly version of the super-agency plan. Bradley, writing as mayor and as chairman of the county Transportation Commission, said the commission’s support of the proposal “is wholly conditioned upon” the changes being made.

Seen as Foot-Dragging

Woo, commenting on the mayor’s letter, said the commission “is being perceived by the Legislature as dragging its feet.”

The dispute is not expected to stop passage of the legislation. “It has a lot of momentum,” said Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Tom Houston.

But it points up differences in approaches that could have a long-range impact on millions of commuters and on taxpayers who support public transit here. The dispute also illustrates disagreements between Bradley, who favors a cautious approach to solving growing transportation problems, and activists such as Woo, who are pressing for quicker action.

The super-agency proposal, embodied in bills by Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) and Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda), would abolish the RTD, which has been under fire for a series of management failures that have cast doubt in the minds of critics about its ability to continue to run the bus system and to operate the Metro Rail subway and a light rail line under construction.

The transportation commission would become the super-agency, with vast powers over transit and highway planning and over construction and transit operation. Under Robbins’ bill, it would be called the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, while under Katz’s bill it would keep its present name.

The commission’s membership would remain generally the same as it is now--the five Los Angeles County supervisors, the mayor of Los Angeles, two Los Angeles City Council members, one Long Beach City Council member and two representatives of smaller cities. In addition, there would be a non-voting member appointed by the governor and non-voting members from Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Mayor’s Objection

A major difference is that the elected officials would be required to attend commission meetings, where now they usually send alternates. Katz and Robbins insisted on this to assure that elected officials would be accountable for transportation decisions. Bradley objected to the mandatory attendance provision from the beginning, saying that elected officials should not have to vote on the dozens of matters, ranging from large to small, that would come before the board. But in his letter to Deddeh, sent April 10, his objections were both broader and more specific, centering on Katz’s bill, which is up for a vote in the Senate Transportation Committee within the next few weeks.

Deputy Mayor Houston said Bradley and the commission fear that the legislation might fail to solve transportation problems because it was drafted so quickly and is moving through the Legislature so fast.

Bradley called for:

- Specific language spelling out how authority will be delegated to the subsidiary agencies.

- Delaying the start-up of the new commission from next Feb. 1 to July 1 to allow transition time.

- Retaining the Southland’s major planning agency, the Southern California Assn. of Governments, as the body that coordinates long-range transportation plans. Katz originally wanted to take that power away from SCAG, although he has modified his stand.

Operating Board

As a specific example of what Bradley dislikes, Houston cited Katz’s decision to create a transit operating board, beneath the commission, to supervise bus operations. That operating board, however, would not be appointed by the new commission. Instead, it would be appointed by various local governments in the area, like the present RTD board.

In fact, it would be the same size as the RTD board. Robbins vigorously opposes that plan, saying that it would continue what he considers bad bus operations management.

Houston said, “You have a superior agency (the new transportation commission) with no control over a subsidiary agency and you have chaos.”

Katz said he has agreed to incorporate in his bill many of the proposals made by Bradley and the county Transportation Commission but he said he is opposed to delaying the date when the new super-agency will take over.