Countywide : OCTA Calls Off Talks on Merger Proposal

The Orange County Transportation Authority’s board of directors on Monday voted unanimously to abandon, for the time being, discussions about consolidating with the Transportation Corridor Agencies, because of the toll road agency’s strong opposition to the merger.

“This took on all the characteristics of a shotgun wedding,” Board Chairman William G. Steiner said of the talks with the tollway agency, which had been going on for three months. “This is not the way to build a lasting relationship.”

The consolidation issue first surfaced in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, it gained new impetus following the county’s bankruptcy, when officials began looking for ways to combine a number of government agencies.

The talks were initiated after The Times reported that the tollway agency--which is planning several new toll roads in the southern portion of the county--had rewarded its top executives with numerous raises, bonuses and perks, even though the costs for the toll roads were substantially over budget and construction was behind schedule.

Tollway officials steadfastly opposed the merger, refusing to cooperate in a number of ways.

They lobbied business leaders and legislators to support their opposition. They refused to take a seat on a merger study committee. And, most recently, they persuaded the local chapter of the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California to oppose a consolidation study.

In taking Monday’s action, however, the OCTA board members--who were following the recommendation that their executive committee made last week--stressed the importance of open communication and future cooperation between the two agencies, predicting that the merger issue would be revisited sometime in the future.

“We should pursue what efforts we can to work cooperatively,” said board member Marian Bergeson, a county supervisor who sits on both panels. “We’ve got everything to gain and nothing to lose.”

According to the resolution passed by the board, the consolidation discussions will be put off “until a future date when the transportation corridors are operational.”

Construction of the corridors is expected to be completed in 2015. Steiner, however, predicted that the issue might be revived sometime before then, “in about five years.”