County Officials Say Anderson’s Defeat May Hinder Projects : Politics: Democrat’s ouster as chairman of House public works panel may make it harder to obtain federal funding for highway, transit plans, local leaders fear.

Surprised by Rep. Glenn M. Anderson’s ouster as chairman of the powerful House Public Works and Transportation Committee, Los Angeles County officials expressed concern Thursday that local highway, port and transit projects will have a harder time securing federal support.

As chairman of the panel since 1988 and previously as chairman of a key subcommittee on surface transportation, Anderson, a San Pedro Democrat, has been able to steer numerous federal projects to the region and was instrumental in obtaining authorization for the Metro Rail system.

“We’re in an era now when we’re spending money on transportation in a big way, and we need matching funds from the federal government,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Deane Dana. “I’m not pleased at all. This is very unfortunate.”

Anderson, 77, lost his chairmanship Wednesday in a 152-100 caucus vote cast by House Democrats. Rep. Robert A. Roe of New Jersey was chosen to succeed him.

Several Democrats on the panel had complained privately that the committee was adrift, saying the 11-term congressman’s advancing age had left him overly reliant on his staff and unable to keep abreast of complex policy issues.

Many key projects backed by Anderson, including the Century Freeway and a elevated bus and car-pool lane being built on the Harbor Freeway, are far enough along that Anderson’s removal will not interfere with their completion, officials said.

Anderson has been known as a consummate dispenser of money for pork barrel projects and has helped secure financing for the Century Freeway and a major deepening of the ship channel leading into the Port of Los Angeles.

He will remain on the committee as its senior member. But a number of county officials said they fear his ouster will dilute Los Angeles’ power on the committee particularly because the federal budget crunch has increased competition for money. The committee has a big say in where federal money is spent for roads, ports, railways, airports, water plants and other public works.

City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who heads a city panel planning a project to consolidate rail and truck traffic to and from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, says she had been hoping that Anderson, as chairman, would pursue federal funding for the project.

“I’m hopeful we’ll still get funding, but it’s going to be a little rougher without (Anderson as) chairman of the public works committee,” Flores said Thursday. “It’s going to make our job of financing more difficult.”

In a written statement, Los Angeles County Transportation Commission Director Neil Peterson said he did not expect the toppling of Anderson to complicate the Metro Rail project. The project, he said, “has received tremendous bipartisan support in Congress because of its merits and we do not believe this will change.”

But James Seeley, Los Angeles’ lobbyist in Washington, said Anderson’s removal will make it harder to marshal federal support for Metro Rail and other projects that still require a significant amount of federal action.

Though the first two stages of Metro Rail were placed on the fast track for congressional consideration, due in part to Anderson’s efforts, the third phase still faces an arduous authorization process, officials said.

Seeley said that having Anderson as chairman also would have helped ensure that Congress appropriates the $150-million federal share for initial work on a 30-year, $4.8-billion project to double the cargo handling capacity of Terminal Island.

“I don’t think (Congress) will overlook Los Angeles, but Anderson did provide an increment of clout that did very well by us,” Seeley said. “It’ll make it tougher.”