Backers of Vetoed Transit Bill Pledge to Wage New Fight

Stymied by an unexpected last-minute veto by Gov. George Deukmejian, the frustrated authors of a plan to overhaul Los Angeles County transportation agencies blasted the governor for his action Wednesday but then pledged to try again, this time enlisting the governor’s help.

At a morning press conference, just hours after Deukmejian derailed the controversial measure to abolish the RTD and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda) called the veto unfair. He said the governor suddenly killed the bill after remaining silent through 10 months of legislative battles.

Leadership Questioned

“(He) never once had a question . . . never once had an inquiry, never once expressed an interest in what was going on,” Katz said. “We cannot allow the governor’s lack of leadership to stand in the way of solving (transportation) problems for the people of Los Angeles.”

After Katz vented his anger, the bill’s co-author, Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) called for a summit meeting on the county’s transportation problems between Deukmejian and key local and state legislative officials. “The bottom line is if we don’t work together . . . the people of Los Angeles are going to suffer, and they are going to have a traffic mess through the 1990s and beyond,” Robbins said.

A spokesman for Deukmejian, Kevin Brett, said afterward, “The governor certainly would be receptive to consider a request for any meeting.”

Myriad Problems at RTD

The vetoed bill would have replaced the Southern California Rapid Transit District and the Transportation Commission with a new super-agency--the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Los Angeles County. The bill was drafted in response to a series of reported problems at the RTD, including high driver absenteeism, soaring administrative costs, fraudulent insurance claims and poor management of contractors and consultants.

Proponents said the new MTA would streamline decision-making by consolidating responsibilities under a single panel of prominent elected officials, including Mayor Tom Bradley and the five county supervisors.

Deukmejian’s opposition remained unknown until his veto was announced late Tuesday, shortly before the Katz-Robbins reorganization bill would have become law. In his veto message, Deukmejian cited a number of concerns that had been raised by his Republican colleagues in the Assembly, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, RTD officials and council members in the county’s small cities.

There were two so-called “poison pill” provisions in the legislation--those that have been strongly opposed by Republican legislators in a number of bills. They would have protected union jobs by preserving limits on the use of lower-cost private bus companies and required that 20% of all contracts go to minority firms. Other concerns included allegedly inadequate representation on the new MTA board for the county’s 83 small cities and mandated future funding levels for 12 municipal bus line systems, regardless of their needs.

‘Hog Tied by Conditions’

“The basic overall flaw is that there are several instances where the MTA is literally hog tied by all the statutory conditions imposed upon it,” Brett said.

The governor’s veto message suggested that new legislation might be acceptable, presumably including a reorganization of transit agencies. But there is considerable philosophical distance between Deukmejian and liberal Democratic leadership of the Legislature on some of the other main features of the vetoed bill. Chief among them were its provisions on affirmative action and such union-sensitive issues as using private bus companies.

Attention was shifting back to the embattled RTD Wednesday. A key question--not immediately answered--was what would happen to the district’s controversial general manager, John Dyer. Dyer has been the focus of much of the criticism of the transit system and he has been working without a contract since August.

RTD board members had said that they postponed a decision on Dyer’s future pending the outcome of the legislative battle. Now, said board member Nikolas Patsaouras, “it will be addressed head on. How it will end up I don’t know.”

‘Adamant’ Opposition to Dyer

Board member Kenneth Thomas said that while he believes Dyer is technically qualified to run the district, “some public officials are adamant in opposition to (him). They perceive a problem just in his presence. We have to consider that as a factor.”

Dyer declined to be interviewed, but he has repeatedly stated his intent to stay and see the RTD through its troubles.

Another crucial test for the RTD board will be how it deals with expiring multiyear contracts with powerful labor unions. Given the pressure for reform--particularly in the areas of reducing absenteeism and use of private carriers--the possibility of a strike is likely to increase.

One RTD official, who asked not to be named, said that in the current atmosphere, it appears “probable” that there will be a bus drivers’ strike when the contract expires next June.

5 Strikes in 15 Years

The drivers have struck five times in the past 15 years, including a five-day strike in 1982 that stranded hundreds of thousands of riders and triggered sharply worse traffic congestion.

Citing the absenteeism problem, which many officials blame on loose controls on sick leave, RTD President Jan Hall said, “We have provisions in the contracts that we have to get out.”

Earl Clark, general chairman of the 5,000-member bus drivers’ union, warned that his members are not about to give up gains they have made in the past.

“If they think they are going to reform the work rules and some of the benefits the operators enjoy, they’ve got serious problems,” he said.