LOS ANGELES : Council Won’t Intervene in Airport Chief Selection

Despite some choice words for airport commissioners, the Los Angeles City Council Tuesday refused to intervene in the commission’s recent appointment of Personnel Director Jack Driscoll as general manager of the huge Department of Airports.

The council, however, did call for a report on the commission’s controversial, closed-door search for a manager to replace Clifton A. Moore, who has directed the department since 1968.

The move to immediately review Driscoll’s appointment was made by Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who praised his service to the city but criticized the way the commission searched for Moore’s successor. That search originally began only with city department heads and was assisted by the Personnel Department under Driscoll’s supervision.

Though agreeing that the commission should have been more open in its deliberations, the council majority declined to study the matter more thoroughly. To do so, many council members argued, would cast an unfair cloud over Driscoll’s selection.