Senate Sidetracks Light-Rail Ban, Metro Rail Delay

In a dramatic 11th-hour development, a controversial measure to ban light-rail construction in North Hollywood and Van Nuys for a decade and to postpone Metro Rail construction in the San Fernando Valley for two years was sidetracked in the state Senate Friday.

The snag represented a temporary reprieve for Valley business interests, which opposed the light-rail ban, and left hundreds of East Valley residents without the protection they sought from the noise and congestion that a light-rail line would introduce to their neighborhoods.

State Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) had expected to bring the bill, which passed the Assembly last week, to the Senate floor before the Legislature adjourned for the rest of 1987. But a late-breaking parliamentary snag on the Legislature’s final day of business delayed consideration of the measure at least until January.

The unexpected move also threw the immediate future of Metro Rail construction in the Valley into uncertainty.

As one result, Southern California Rapid Transit District officials must promptly deal with a 1984 law sponsored by Robbins that requires the RTD to begin Metro Rail tunneling in North Hollywood by Sept. 29 and to spend $13 million by next September on the underground rail system. The RTD must decide whether to proceed without knowing if a two-year moratorium will be passed next year.

‘Waste Millions’

Therefore, the RTD could be forced “to waste a couple of million dollars in construction money,” Robbins, who is seeking to back away from his 1984 stand, said Friday.

“To try to get a ground breaking in two weeks would be very tough,” RTD spokesman Greg Davy said. “At this moment, it’s not clear what we will do.”

Further complicating the picture was the passage in the Legislature this week of a bill authored by Robbins and Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda) that would abolish the RTD and replace it in January with a super transit agency. The measure was sent to Gov. George Deukmejian, who has not indicated whether he will sign it.

Although there was intense debate in the Legislature about the light-rail ban, there was general agreement that the RTD should delay work on a 2.4-mile segment of Metro Rail between Universal City and the subway’s northern terminus in North Hollywood until it is certain that federal money will be available to connect the Valley segment with downtown.

‘Who Can Authorize?’

“I don’t know who can legally authorize them to delay,” a shaken Robbins said. “The big problem is that they have to spend $13 million prior to Sept. 29, 1988. By what date do they have to be going full blast to spend it efficiently?”

Robbins said he plans to consult attorneys familiar with the transportation issue. He said he still plans to push for the delay when the Legislature returns next year.

For Robbins, who called the setback “a painful episode,” the delay followed a hard-won victory for the transit-reorganization bill. Some legislative observers said Friday’s delay may have reflected distrust of or weariness with Robbins’ maneuvering. Robbins acknowledged that rumors about his last-minute actions were widespread.

“Things aren’t done at the last minute without input,” said Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara), a key opponent. “I think it’s bad policy.”

The delay occurred because the light-rail bill had been heavily amended in the Assembly after first passing the Senate without either the light-rail or Metro Rail prohibitions. Sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Bane (D-Tarzana), it passed the Democrat-led Assembly on a strict party-line vote, with Republicans unified in opposition.

Normally, such a substantially amended bill would have to be considered by a Senate committee--in this case, the Transportation Committee--before being brought to the floor for a vote by the full Senate. This procedure is sometimes bypassed in the hectic final days of the legislative year.

Hastily Called Meeting

Friday, however, Sen. Wadie P. Deddeh (D-Chula Vista), chairman of the Transportation Committee, questioned whether the bill should have come before his committee. The matter was referred to a hastily called Rules Committee meeting.

“This is the system,” Deddeh said in an interview. “You can use it until you get caught.”

At the Rules Committee meeting, Robbins maintained that the urgency of the issue demanded immediate action. Furthermore, he said, no request had been made for a Transportation Committee hearing until the last minute.

But Hart, whose district includes part of Woodland Hills, said, “There’s not ever been a hearing before a policy committee of either house.”

In the Assembly, the bill was considered by the Ways and Means Committee because it had financial impact, but did not go through the Assembly Transportation Committee.

Following the lead of Rules Committee Chairman David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), the committee voted 5 to 0 to send the bill to the Senate Transportation Committee. Roberti suggested that the committee meet during the Senate’s dinner break.

But Robbins said that, by the time he returned to the Senate floor, Deddeh had already polled the members and found that they didn’t want to give up their break to review the bill.

“Since it’s a major policy issue, it needed more time,” Deddeh said.

Robbins said he had exhausted the aid of Transportation Committee members in recent days with the intense and protracted maneuvering over the transit-reorganization bill, which was amended 19 times. He said he waited to move the light-rail ban until the transit-reorganization bill was passed so the two would not be linked.

“There’s a limit to how many times you can go to the well and, with the Transportation Committee, those of us in the Valley have gone to the well daily for the last couple of weeks,” Robbins said.

“If we go too often, we run the risk we could sour them on the legislation.”

Hart’s opposition appeared critical to the bill’s fate.

Robbins Lobbies Hart

Robbins spent half an hour tenaciously lobbying Hart on the Senate floor Friday morning--occasionally provoking Hart to raise his voice in anger.

“Alan was anxious for me not to say very much about the process,” Hart said. He added that he opposed the bill because the Legislature should not interrupt a continuing $1.6-million environmental study of five proposed light-rail routes by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.

If it had not been sidetracked, the bill would have removed from consideration two of five Valley light-rail routes under study by the Transportation Commission--one that would follow Chandler Boulevard east of the San Diego Freeway and Victory Boulevard west of the freeway, and one that would follow Victory the length of the Valley.

Both routes would link the proposed North Hollywood Metro Rail station with Warner Center, a fast-growing commercial and industrial area in Woodland Hills.

Proposed routes not affected by the measure are the Ventura Freeway, the Los Angeles River and the main Southern Pacific railroad line, which crosses the Valley diagonally from Burbank to Chatsworth.

Potent Interests

The bill pitted residents who oppose the Chandler-Victory route against potent business interests in the Valley, especially those from Warner Center.

Valley business leaders support the Chandler-Victory line as the least costly route and the most direct way to tie Warner Center to the East Valley and downtown.

The county Transportation Commission, which is building a countywide light-rail system, also registered its opposition to the bill. The commission would be merged with RTD under the transit-reorganization measure.

Opponents believed that Senate passage was so likely that they had already turned their efforts toward convincing the governor to veto the bill. Deukmejian, a Republican, has not taken a position on the measure, said Donna Lucas, his deputy press secretary.

Assemblywoman Marian W. La Follette (R-Northridge), who led opposition to the measure in the Assembly, said, “The delay is good because it will give more time for all the opposing factions to meet and negotiate.”