New York Official to Head Huge L.A. Transit Agency : Appointment: Franklin White will lead merged RTD and LACTC. He is known as a consensus builder.

Meeting for the first time Thursday, the county’s newly formed transit mega-agency selected Franklin White, New York state’s transportation commissioner, as its first chief executive officer to oversee the region’s $183-billion, 400-mile rail and bus network.

When he joins the Metropolitan Transportation Authority this spring, White will take the reins of one of the nation’s largest public works agencies, created by the merger of the county’s two rival transit boards--the Southern California Rapid Transit District and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.

White, 51, a soft-spoken lawyer who appeared briefly at Thursday’s meeting, said his first priority will be consolidating the two boards into a “fully capable, lean” organization and conducting his own assessment of the county’s 30-year plan to improve transit.

“In New York, the transportation modes are all mature, the issues there have to do with restoration of the infrastructure,” said White, who also has a degree in accounting. “The challenge here is the creation of a new set of systems.”

Known as a good manager with an ability to work well with sometimes warring factions, White, transit officials said, was the right choice to put the kibosh on the bickering that had plagued the two boards and to focus on transportation.

MTA officials have not determined when White will start in his new position, nor have all the details of his salary package been determined. But White is expected to earn about $200,000 as head of the agency, which has a yearly budget of about $3.1 billion and will initially have almost 10,000 employees, the total of the two merging agencies.

Under an interim arrangement, the RTD and the LACTC will continue operating until March 31, while the 13-member MTA board gears up to take command. In addition to appointing White, the board named Councilman Richard Alatorre as its chairman. County Supervisor Ed Edelman will serve as vice chairman.

For Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, who pushed for White’s appointment, Thursday’s decision was a victory.

“Frank White is most impressive. It became clear to me that he had the kind of breadth and knowledge to lead us into a new era of transportation,” Bradley said after the meeting.

Jacki Bacharach, a member of the Transportation Commission and the MTA steering committee, which interviewed six candidates, described White as “very, very strong; he seemed decisive and like a problem solver.”

“He will bring a fresh look at problems,” she added. “He scored right at the top.”

As commissioner of transportation in New York state, White earned $98,399 a year and presided over an agency with 11,500 employees and a $4.3-billion annual budget. Much of it was allocated for refurbishing the state’s aging transit network.

In New York City, work began on restoring decaying bridges over the East River and some key expressways. Under his tenure, officials decided to add an extra car-pool lane to the Long Island Expressway--nicknamed “the world’s longest parking lot” by rush-hour commuters stuck in chronic traffic jams.

White also acted as chairman of a review board that oversaw modernization of New York City’s subway system and commuter lines.

Such tasks often required the ability to maneuver politically as he was called on to balance priorities between mass transit and highway and bridge remodeling, his aides said. The ability to span constituencies has been a hallmark of White’s management style, they said, reflected by his good working relationship with Gov. Mario M. Cuomo and New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins.

“He is lawyerly and tends to listen to all arguments and to make his decisions based on what he perceives as the overriding needs,” said a close associate in the Transportation Department. “He usually tried very hard to get everyone in agreement. It is a collegial style of management. But it is quite clear who the boss is.”

After taking office in 1985, White supervised major expansions of the state’s transportation construction budget. In 1985, $684 million was set aside for transit projects, a budget that has grown to more than $1 billion.

In naming White to the post, the MTA’s newly appointed board passed over the two men who have been responsible for building and operating the region’s transportation systems. Neil Peterson, executive director of the Transportation Commission, and Alan Pegg, RTD general manager, were eliminated Friday from the list of finalists.

When the MTA begins operating this spring, both will lose their top posts, although Pegg indicated a willingness to stay on in some other capacity.

The decision to eliminate Peterson from the list of finalists prompted his supporters to launch an unsuccessful campaign to postpone the appointment until after the mayoral election in June.

Last week, a steering committee pared down a list of candidates to three finalists--White, Long Beach City Manager James C. Hankla, and Brian Clymer of the Federal Transit Administration. On Thursday, Peterson’s name was restored to the list to placate his supporters.

On Wednesday, in discussion with transit officials here, Clymer let it be known that if selected, he would be unable to make a firm commitment to the job, sources said. Unwilling to proceed with an uncertain candidate, officials viewed Clymer’s stance as a withdrawal from the contest.

Hoping to avoid delays, transit officials asked all the candidates to attend the MTA meeting. White was flown out for Thursday’s meeting in case any of the new MTA members wanted to interview him before the final selection, Alatorre said.

The decision to fly White out, however, led to speculation that the post had been determined in advance of the meeting--an allegation that Alatorre and others denied.

“There was nothing that was a done deal,” Alatorre said.

Edelman said White was selected because “he has a vision of what needs to be accomplished here; he’s low key but very even-tempered and knows where he wants to go. He will bring an end to friction we’ve seen constantly.”

Peterson, who earns $139,000 a year, has said he would leave the Transportation Commission if he did not win the top job. It is expected that the MTA will honor the terms of his contract and pay him for another year, an aide said.

“I wish White the very best and I’ll do everything I can to make his transition as easy as possible,” Peterson said. “I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve done in the last four years; we established a vision for how we can get out of gridlock in L.A. County and we’ve taken the first important steps in that direction.”

Under Peterson’s tenure, the 22-mile Blue Line between Long Beach and Los Angeles began operating, the Metrolink commuter rail line was launched and the Red Line subway opened between downtown Los Angeles and MacArthur Park. Peterson also oversaw the creation of the region’s 30-year plan to build an elaborate transportation network.

On Thursday, White said he would re-examine this plan.

“It’s a very ambitious plan, a costly plan that we should make sure about,” White said.

When asked about his philosophy for transportation, White avoided associating himself with any one mode--bus, rail or automobiles.

“All modes are going to have to play roles,” he said. “Obviously, we need more and better” rail and bus facilities.

White then noted that he had also overseen much of the road and highway improvements in New York.

White had gained political experience when Cuomo appointed him transportation commissioner. During the Administration of previous Gov. Hugh Carey, he served as a budget examiner. Immediately before joining the Cuomo Administration, he was Virginia’s secretary of transportation and public safety.

A graduate of Cardinal Hayes High School in New York City and Hunter College of the City University of New York, White received his law degree from Columbia University Law School.

He and his wife, Diane, have three sons. He is an avid tennis player who has been known on occasion to work hard to psych out his opponents.

Times staff writer John Goldman in New York contributed to this article.

Profile: Franklin E. White

As the newly appointed chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, White will oversee the region’s $183-billion, 400-mile rail and bus network. Age: 51 Residence: Ballston Lake, N.Y. Education: Columbia University Law School, bachelor of law, 1965; City College of New York, bachelor of business administration, accounting and economics, 1961. Career highlights: Commissioner, New York Department of Transportation; secretary of transportation and public safety with the White House; general counsel with NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Hobby: Tennis Family: Married, three children. Quote: “In New York, the transportation modes are all mature, the issues there have to do with restoration to the infrastructure. . . . The challenge here is the creation of a new set of systems and that’s a challenge.”