Antonovich Is Jockeying for MTA Post

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich is trying to gain control of the county’s most powerful transit agency by muscling aside another San Fernando Valley supervisor who was in line for the post.

Whoever becomes chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority--Antonovich or Supervisor Ed Edelman--will be in a position to steer lucrative contracts toward political allies and control the agency’s agenda for the next year, including debate over the design and route of a proposed east-west rail line in the Valley.

The normal rotation procedure between city and county governments calls for Edelman to automatically succeed Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre as head of the 14-month-old transportation agency Friday.

But with Alatorre’s backing, Antonovich is attempting to put the matter to a vote by the 13-member MTA board Wednesday, Antonovich’s office said Monday. It was unclear Monday whether Antonovich could muster the seven votes he needs to be elected chairman because several key MTA board members, including Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, said they had not yet made up their minds how to vote.

An Antonovich spokesman said Monday that Edelman would make an ineffective leader because he is retiring Dec. 5, only five months into the chairman’s 12-month term. Edelman has also already given notice that he would miss several MTA meetings in September, said Habib Balian, Antonovich’s transportation deputy.

“He’ll be the chair in absentia,” Balian said. “Let’s just give him a gold watch instead of the chairmanship.”

Edelman, who was vacationing in Europe, could not be reached for comment Monday. But a spokesman said the supervisor would make the MTA a priority during his tenure as chairman, not give it short shrift as Antonovich’s staff has suggested.

“It would be inappropriate and unnecessary to change the rules at this time,” Edelman spokesman Joel Bellman said.

Bellman added that the MTA voted unanimously in April to choose a county supervisor instead of a city appointee to replace Edelman when he retires.

Several MTA sources said Zev Yaroslavsky, the longtime Los Angeles city councilman elected June 8 to replace Edelman on the county Board of Supervisors, would be the most likely to assume the MTA post if Edelman became chairman first and then left the job in December.

Yaroslavsky is now an alternate member of the MTA board of directors, representing the city, and attends many of its meetings. That gives him grounds to argue in December that he should replace Edelman because of his valuable experience on the board.

“What Antonovich is doing is a crass, political power play--a coup d’etat--that I hope will fail,” Yaroslavsky said. “Ed is capable to serve and I’m capable to take his place.”

Several MTA board members said Antonovich covets the post primarily because it will give him the clout he needs on key issues, including alignment of the Valley’s east-west rail line.

“It’s a power play for the east-west line,” said an MTA source, who asked not to be identified.

Edelman and Yaroslavsky have been staunch advocates of a plan to build a mostly below-ground rail line that would begin at the Metro Rail terminus in North Hollywood and parallel Burbank and Chandler boulevards for 14 miles to Woodland Hills.

For years, Antonovich has been pressing a rival proposal for a 16-mile elevated rail line along the center of the Ventura Freeway--possibly a monorail--from Universal City to Woodland Hills. He has argued vehemently that such a line would be cheaper and quicker to build, and has made it one of his key political themes.

Transportation officials have studied both options and concluded that they are both feasible. Final cost estimates are expected in August, followed by a decision later this year.

Whoever wins the battle over the chairmanship will be able to control the amount of time each side can take when the final debate on the east-west line comes to the MTA. The chairman also controls the agenda, deciding when to bring an issue to a vote quickly or delay it.

Another advantage is the chairman’s influence over valuable contracts, allowing him to sometimes guide them to firms that have contributed to the chairman’s political campaigns, MTA sources said.

Alatorre, whose chairmanship of the MTA ends Friday, declined to comment on who he will vote for to replace him, saying only that “the process is being worked on,” according to his spokeswoman, Liz Chavez.

Riordan, who sits on the MTA and has appointed three other members, said through a spokeswoman that he needs to talk to other members of the board, including Antonovich and Edelman, before he decides how to vote.

“He needs to confer with other members to see what the actual issues are,” Riordan spokeswoman Noelia Rodriquez said.

Glendale Councilman Larry Zarian, another MTA member, said he was put off by Antonovich’s effort to become chairman, but still has not decided how he will vote.

“At this point, I haven’t heard from Antonovich,” Zarian said. “I need to listen to the arguments.”