Bradley Aide Gets Key Airport Post; Move Draws Fire

Just two days before Mayor Tom Bradley leaves office, one of his closest aides was appointed Tuesday to a $90,514-a-year airport job that critics say was created with him in mind.

Philip Depoian--who started as a Bradley campaign aide more than 20 years ago and has served as the mayor’s airport liaison for the past four years--was named to the post of deputy executive director of the Department of Airports by Director Jack Driscoll.

Driscoll, named airport manager last year by the Bradley-appointed Airport Commission, said that neither Bradley nor anyone in the mayor’s office pressured him to hire Depoian. Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani also said Bradley played no role in the appointment.

But an angry Councilwoman Ruth Galanter said the appointment “smacks of cronyism” and could put the city in jeopardy if other applicants for the job fight Driscoll’s decision.

“I think it’s embarrassing for the city,” said Galanter, whose district includes Los Angeles International Airport. “Here we are supposed to be committed to affirmative action and an open and honest process. And if I was one of those people who in good faith applied for this job . . . I would be really upset.

“And I do think there is a good chance that someone who is a woman or minority would have a pretty good argument that there is something fishy about their being passed over,” she said.

Councilman Joel Wachs was equally angry. “This is really just a favor to the mayor,” he said. “It’s an outrage.”

When Driscoll was appointed to run the giant Airport Department six months ago, there was speculation that he had gotten the job after agreeing to appoint Depoian.

“Today’s action makes it hard to dispel that thought,” Galanter said.

Depoian is due to lose his $72,000-a-year job in the mayor’s office Thursday when Mayor-elect Richard Riordan takes office. With the new job, Depoian also gets Civil Service protection that he has not enjoyed as the mayor’s airport department liaison.

“Bradley has never talked to me about Phil Depoian being appointed to this job,” Driscoll said. “The mayor has kept his hands off it completely.”

Although the appointment raised some eyebrows at City Hall, it appeared doubtful that the council or incoming mayor could block the action even if they wanted.

Chief Legislative Analyst William McCarley, who will be Riordan’s chief of staff, said Driscoll was within his authority in appointing Depoian. As such, there are no grounds for challenging the action, said McCarley, who was among the finalists for the airport job won by Driscoll last December.

Besides, McCarley said, the city has a host of other issues--including a looming budget deficit--to confront.

“I think we have so many more things to worry about,” McCarley said. “My first duty is to put together a team to help run this city.”

Still, McCarley made it clear that Driscoll’s appointment of Depoian, like all actions he takes as general manager, will be part of his overall job evaluation.

“(The appointment) is Mr. Driscoll’s responsibility . . . and as chief of staff, my position and that of the Riordan Adminstration is that we are going to hold managers accountable for their departments,” McCarley said. “And managers who don’t hire qualified people are putting themselves at a disadvantage.

“That is no comment about Mr. Depoian,” McCarley said. “But . . . general managers will be judged on their decisions.”

Driscoll said that he had advised Riordan of his plans to appoint Depoian. “It was their position that I am the manager of the department, and that I make the appointments, and I’m held accountable for performance,” Driscoll said.

The Airport Commission created a stir in 1991 when, with little discussion, it authorized the addition of a third deputy general manager to oversee public relations, marketing, lobbying, and noise and environmental issues.

Galanter led an unsuccessful effort in the City Council to overrule the commission and do away with the job, which she and others argued is not justified when the city is struggling with a gloomy economy.

Driscoll insisted that Depoian, a veteran City Hall insider, was the best qualified among 14 applicants for the job, which will include working to smooth relations with neighbors concerned about noise from LAX and the city-owned airports in Ontario, Palmdale and Van Nuys. The airport manager said he chose Depoian after interviewing five other applicants who were given the highest ratings for the job on a Civil Service list. At least three other candidates scored higher than Depoian.

Driscoll also defended his hiring of a white male over minority and female candidates. “This is one appointment,” he said. “I think in the future people will see some substantial changes both in respect of women and minorities.”

Depoian, 45, said he won the job fairly.

“I worked my butt off to try to get this position,” he said, noting that he participated in a Civil Service process that included interviewing with a board set up by the city Personnel Department.

“It was a thorough Civil Service process,” he said. “I went through what everybody else did. . . . There are those who want to believe this job was a put-up thing. There is nothing I can do to dissuade them of that except to do the best I can do on behalf of the city and airport department.”

Depoian is among the mayor’s closest and most loyal advisers but rarely has been in the spotlight.

Depoian dropped out of Valley College to volunteer for Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1968. He worked as travel secretary for Bradley’s unsuccessful 1969 campaign for mayor and has been with the mayor ever since. In 1982, he was campaign manager for Bradley’s unsuccessful run for governor. Recently, he has held the title of special counselor to the mayor.

Fabiani strongly defended the selection of Depoian and insisted that it followed a strict Civil Service process.

“I think it’s unfortunate because people don’t understand the process. It is a Civil Service position that worked as it should have. And because of Phil’s time working with the airport department, he was clearly the most qualified candidate on the list,” Fabiani said.

One longtime airport official, LAX manager Stephen Yee, has sued the city, alleging that he was denied a chance at the job because it was reserved for Depoian.

“The appointment . . . makes us look clairvoyant,” Yee’s attorney, Diane Marchant, said Tuesday.