Airport Manager Selection Process Hits Turbulence : Government: The City Council wants a nationwide search, but the commission is seeking candidates from among city department heads first.

Despite a City Council request for a nationwide search, the Los Angeles Airport Commission this week forged ahead with plans to begin looking for a new general manager among the city’s department heads.

The commission’s move flies in the face of the council’s 10-3 decision last week to seek a nationwide search for a successor to General Manager Clifton A. Moore, who will retire by February. The council made the request because it felt the commission’s plan created the appearance the search for Moore’s successor was rigged.

But the commission, meeting Monday in Van Nuys, said it will continue with its original plan to first review city candidates before deciding if a national or international search is warranted. To date, 13 city executives have applied for Moore’s post--one he held for 24 years and which made him the city’s highest-paid employee with an annual salary of $181,812.

By first reviewing city candidates for the post, the panel will save the city time and money, Airport Commission President Robert Chick has argued. Further, Chick has insisted that the approach offers deserving city employees a chance to be rewarded for their service.

“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,” Chick said in an interview after the council’s action. “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 have angered Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who initiated the council motion for 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 commission extends not only to its plan but how it arrived at it. This week, Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner received a request from Galanter for an investigation of the commission to determine if it violated the state’s open meeting laws by informally deciding to first search for a general manager from within the city’s ranks rather than taking a formal vote on that approach.

“The new (airports) executive director will be responsible for the lives and safety of millions of people, both in the air and on the ground,” Galanter wrote to Reiner. “Decisions of this magnitude should not be made by political appointees in back rooms. There should be a fair and open public hearing and selection process for this position.”

Reiner’s spokeswoman, Sandi Gibbons, said Wednesday that Galanter’s request had been turned over to the district attorney’s special investigations division to determine whether a probe is warranted. Gibbons said she did not know how long that determination would take.

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 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.