Battle Looms Over Hunt for New Airports Chief : Politics: The City Council votes for a nationwide search but the Airport Commission head insists that he will look first at current employees.

Setting the stage for a political battle over one of Los Angeles’ most coveted municipal jobs, the City Council on Friday urged the Airport Commission to launch a nationwide quest for a new general manager rather than begin the search among the city’s top executives.

But the council’s 10-3 action, spiced with references to job-rigging and back-room deals, was insufficient to persuade Airport Commission President Robert Chick that the panel should abandon its plans to first look at city employees to succeed airports’ General Manager Clifton A. Moore, who will retire by next February.

Hours after the council’s action, Chick said the commission will proceed with a review of 13 city applicants for Moore’s job--which he has held for 24 years and which makes him the city’s highest paid employee, with an annual salary of $181,812.

“We still believe it’s a good practice and makes sense economically to review the (city) applicants who have shown interest in . . . this job,” Chick said in an interview.

“We are conscious of the fact--and have been from the beginning--that it might be necessary to go outside of the city if there isn’t a candidate who can do the job . . . (but) we are at the point where we have already received applications. And in all fairness to city applicants, I feel we should review their applications to see if it is necessary to have a nationwide search.”

Chick’s remarks angered Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who initiated the council motion urging a nationwide search. “I would call it an insult . . . not only to the council but to the people who use the city’s airports and will use them in the future,” said Galanter, whose district includes Los Angeles International Airport.

Galanter’s ire at the Airport Commission was evident when she introduced the request for a nationwide search, arguing as did most of her colleagues that the city’s large Airport Department requires the best manager available.

During a sometimes heated council debate Friday, Galanter and several others noted that many of the city’s top management positions--including police chief, planning director and treasurer--were filled after nationwide searches.

“Certainly in the city, we have many very qualified department managers, but certainly there are other (outside candidates) as well,” Galanter told colleagues.

“The question is, ‘Who’s the best qualified?’ And you can’t know that if you shut the door on examining anyone who isn’t on the (city) payroll,” she said.

Galanter’s position was echoed by others who, in sometimes pointed terms, argued that the Airport Commission’s approach might not only forfeit the possibility of getting the best appointee but also left the unmistakable appearance that commissioners already knew whom they wanted to select.

“Today we are saying the department can make the rules, they can decide on their own how to go get (a new general manager),” Councilman Mike Hernandez said. “That sounds to me like a rigged deal.”

Added Councilman Joel Wachs: “If you want to know why people are cynical, this is it. . . . It gives all the appearances of being a done deal and just going through the charade.”

The criticism of the commission’s approach was not unanimous. Mayor Tom Bradley has supported the panel’s approach, and several council members Friday argued that the commission’s plan is fiscally prudent and a chance to reward dedicated city executives with a promotion.

“There are a lot of people who are working for the City of Los Angeles . . . with the expectation that one day, someday, they would have a chance to hold the top job. And I don’t think we ought to shut the door on them,” said Councilman Nate Holden, who opposed Galanter’s motion along with Richard Alatorre and Joy Picus.

“The fact is we can save a lot of money at this time and consider someone who understands the problems of Los Angeles because they live here,” Holden said.

But under questioning by the council, Phillip Henning, assistant general manager of the city’s Personnel Department, said the commission had emphasized time, not money, in beginning its search among city employees. A nationwide search, he said, could take four to six months while a review of qualified city candidates could be completed within 60 days, he said.

And in the end, the council’s prevailing sentiment was based on finding the best candidate, not the time or money it would take.

“We have gone to a nationwide search for almost every general manager job I am aware of,” Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky said. “I think it’s kind of foolish to hire somebody to run one of the biggest airports in the world who has zero airport experience.”

If the commission forgoes a nationwide search, several council members said they may invoke a City Charter section that allows the council to take over the decisions usually left to the three independent departments of Airports, Harbor, and Water and Power.

How that will be resolved remains unclear since the commission’s plan has Bradley’s backing and could, despite the council’s protests, result in a candidate to its liking.

At the same time, however, the selection process is certain to rekindle City Hall controversy over how Bradley-appointed commissions have handled high-profile appointments. In 1984, the Harbor Commission’s appointment of longtime Bradley aide Ezunial Burts as general manager created an uproar. And more recently, the council moved to block the Airport Commission’s creation of a $112,000-a-year post sought by another of Bradley’s top assistants, Phil Depoian.

Said Galanter after the meeting: “What (commissioners) have done is begin a process that emerges from the shadows. . . . It’s very shortsighted and it suggests to the public, whether it’s true or not, that they have already made a decision.”