Grand Jury Investigation of Metro Rail Consultant Urged

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich on Tuesday called for a grand jury investigation of the spending and billing practices of Booz-Allen & Hamilton Inc., a consulting firm that has been paid $14 million for work on the Metro Rail rapid transit project.

Antonovich called some of the firm’s spending “outrageous,” noting that Booz-Allen had billed taxpayers $17,000 for an employee’s near-daily commute to Los Angeles from the San Francisco area.

The Times reported Sunday that the consulting firm’s bills, now totaling about $300,000 a month, included such items as vacation travel, expensive meals at restaurants, mortgage payments for an employee’s home and the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco commuting expenses.

Antonovich also requested that the grand jury review the auditing practices of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, which oversees Metro Rail construction, and the Southern California Rapid Transit District, which had responsibility for the project until 18 months ago.

The grand jury should determine the propriety of expenses charged to taxpayers by Booz-Allen and make recommendations to correct any deficiencies it finds, Antonovich said.

“Taxpayers need to be assured that the money they are spending for public transportation will bring them more and better modes of transportation,” said Antonovich, who is about to assume chairmanship of the 11-member LACTC board.

Antonovich said he would ask the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to approve his request at its meeting next week.

Mayor Tom Bradley, a member of the LACTC board, has requested a meeting with Neil Peterson, the agency’s executive director, to discuss issues raised by the Times report.

“I have a number of persisting concerns about LACTC contracting policies and practices,” Bradley said in a letter to Peterson.

The mayor said he wants to “confirm for myself that everything possible is being done to ensure that LACTC consultant dollars are being prudently spent.”

Booz-Allen, a management and engineering firm based in Bethesda, Md., has performed a variety of tasks for the Metro Rail project since the firm was hired in 1984. The firm’s work is focused on speeding up the production of cars for the region’s first subway line, which is scheduled to open in 1993.

Booz-Allen officials have said that they take great care in billing the LACTC and other clients, and scrupulously follow state and federal government guidelines on acceptable charges.