Plan for Dual Transit Offices Criticized : Meeting: Opponents say officials are trying to snare money before transportation panels merge next week.

Transportation officials came under fire Wednesday for meeting behind closed doors last month to negotiate construction of a $111-million headquarters even while a $137-million facility is under construction at Union Station.

Opponents charge that the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission is attempting to snare the money for a headquarters before the new Metropolitan Transportation Authority takes command next week, merging the commission with the Southern California Rapid Transit District. They also question the logic of building a separate facility in another part of town--several blocks from a subway stop--when the RTD’s uncompleted headquarters at Union Station has enough space to house the commission’s staff.

At the same time, critics are raising questions about whether transportation officials are unfairly allocating a multimillion-dollar contract to developer Ray Watt, who has contributed heavily to the campaigns of Mayor Tom Bradley and six other transit officials.

The commission had entered exclusive negotiations with Watt after evaluating several other proposals. Watt has contributed more than $30,000 to Bradley and about $70,000 to the six others since 1984, according to campaign disclosure statements.

Watt’s representative, lawyer Peter Kelly, told LACTC board members Wednesday that the planned building would be a boon to the community. The developer, he said, would create thousands of jobs with construction, would build a day-care center and a superior parking facility, and would contribute to a senior citizens’ center.

After hearing public comment, the Transportation Commission held a closed session in which there were not enough votes to block the negotiations with Watt. Instead, board members decided to let the 13 members of the MTA deal with the thorny issue when it meets for the first time next Wednesday, transportation officials said.

“It seems more logical to me to have it all one facility and that way you have a consolidated organization,” said Harold Croyts, an alternate member of the MTA.

On Dec. 16, the commission approved RTD’s plans to construct a building at Union Station after haggling over the size of the building. Instead of approving the original plan of a 28- or 26-story structure, the commission scaled it back to 21 stories.

Initially, the RTD project also would have housed the Transportation Commission--either in the additional floors of the building or in a separate building on an adjacent site. Constructing a facility at an adjacent site would cost $108 million.

Instead, the commission decided to proceed with a separate building for its offices on 7th Street west of the Harbor Freeway. Although the $111-million cost of building on that site is higher than building at Union Station, officials said the cost is lower per square foot.

Nonetheless, critics and Watt’s competitors say the MTA will be stuck with a white elephant if the building is constructed at that site.

RTD officials are questioning whether the negotiations with Watt can be halted once the project is handed over to Franklin White, who was recently selected to head the MTA.

“When the commission enters exclusive negotiations to produce a contract, you’ve got so much momentum it’s tough to stop,” said one RTD official, who requested anonymity. “If White walks into this, he is facing an extraordinary dilemma at the outset. Something is amiss here.”