Use of County Workers on Campaign Alleged : Proposition C: A probe has been ordered over charges that transit officials used on-duty employees to promote the ballot measure.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich called Tuesday for an investigation into an allegation that the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission used on-duty county employees to promote Proposition C, the half-cent sales tax measure on next Tuesday’s ballot that would finance mass transit projects.

The county investigation was ordered after a commission employee complained that he and other staffers were being pressured to work on a phone bank, campaigning for the county tax measure that would raise $400 million a year. If true, the accusations could be a violation of election laws and county policy, officials said.

“I was asked to engage in this campaign activity during regular business hours and was told to conceal it by not reporting it on my time sheet,” wrote Robert B. Mooney, who works for the Rail Construction Corp., a subsidiary of the Transportation Commission.

Mooney produced a memo from his immediate supervisor that directed him to an office where the phone bank was located. The memo said, in part, “You will be working on the Prop C phone banks” and warned, “Do not put this on your time sheet.”

Mooney complained in letters to Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner and Supervisors Antonovich and Pete Schabarum. A spokesman for the district attorney said Tuesday that the matter will be examined to see if a criminal investigation is warranted.

During the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, Antonovich and Schabarum called for an investigation by the chief administrative officer to determine if the commission had violated county policy against ordering public employees to perform political work.

Commission officials denied any wrongdoing and said they did not order or coerce staff to get involved in the campaign. The commission put the transit measure on the ballot and has launched a strong effort to gain support for the half-cent tax.

“It was all aboveboard,” said Neil Peterson, commission executive director. He said the staff was asked to volunteer time, and the 10 people who did take a few hours off to make the campaign calls used office space and phones provided by TransCal, a private consulting firm that oversees the commission’s rail construction projects.

Mooney’s two immediate supervisors denied that they tried to force him to do phone work.

Robin McCarthy, manager of the Rail Construction Corp.’s public affairs department, said that she asked Mooney if he was interested in working the phones. “He indicated he was willing to participate,” she said.

McCarthy said she turned the matter over to a subordinate, who wrote the memo telling Mooney where and when to report for phone duty in the TransCal offices. She said Mooney was warned not to list the work on his time card because the commission wanted to ensure that he understood he would be campaigning on his time.

“What happened here was a misunderstanding,” Peterson said. Mooney felt he was being coerced, but his immediate supervisor was under the impression he had volunteered, Peterson said, adding that any attempt to force an employee to do such campaign work would be “absolutely inappropriate.”

Peterson ordered Mooney’s immediate superior, John Higgins, to apologize for any misunderstanding and to send a memo to all commission employees making it clear that they were not required to do campaign work.

The phone bank was a small office with two or three volunteers on the telephones at any one time, said Bevan Dufty, cq, the commission staff member coordinating the Proposition C campaign efforts. He said the volunteers phoned individuals who had supported previous transit measures and asked for their backing and financial support.

Deputy Dist. Atty. James Hickey said that requiring a public employee to work on a political campaign is considered a misuse of public funds and is a felony.

“We will evaluate to see if an investigation will be opened,” Hickey concluded.