Official Calls for Probe of Donation by Subway Firm

A business team’s effort to win a lucrative Eastside subway contract ran into another problem Thursday when county transit chief Joseph E. Drew asked the MTA inspector general to investigate the consortium’s failure to disclose a $1,000 campaign contribution to Mayor Richard Riordan.

The president of TELACU Industries, a partner in the consortium, certified under penalty of perjury in a bid application July 1 that neither his firm nor its agents had made a political contribution to any MTA board member within the previous 12 months, according to transit agency documents.

Records on file at the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, however, show that TELACU Vice President Kristin Tuite Morrish made a $1,000 contribution on June 14 to Riordan, who is a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board.

An MTA spokeswoman said that Drew asked the inspector general to examine whether TELACU had broken agency regulations by failing to disclose the contribution.

“The MTA has a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers to ensure that all our processes can pass public scrutiny and are reasonable, defensible and adhered to,” Drew said in a statement.

TELACU President David C. Lizarraga, who signed the July 1 statement, did not return phone calls seeking comment. Morrish, who supervises housing construction at TELACU, also did not return calls.

A spokeswoman for Riordan said the mayor’s campaign returned the contribution to Morrish the morning of Oct. 23, a few hours before the Eastside contract was to be voted on by the MTA board. The spokeswoman said the mayor routinely returns TELACU contributions “as a matter of prudence.”

Riordan, who is a lawyer, did legal work for TELACU before he became mayor. MTA rules forbid board members to vote on contracts benefiting companies or individuals who have contributed more than $250 in the previous year to their political campaigns.

This is the second time in two weeks that Drew has asked the inspector general to study possible improprieties in bid documents submitted by a partner of Metro East Consultants, the business team he has recommended to receive the $65-million contract. The team had been ranked last by a panel of independent experts hired by the agency to evaluate three bidders for the project.