MTA Chief’s Resignation Accepted by Board

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board ended a suspenseful day Thursday by accepting transit chief Joseph E. Drew’s resignation, even as it continued the kind of political infighting that Drew blamed for helping drive him away.

County Supervisor Michael Antonovich accused Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, a fellow MTA board member, of failing to deliver on a promised vote of confidence for Drew in an effort to keep him on the job. Riordan denied that he made such a commitment and added, “Joe made it very clear to us this morning that he wasn’t going to change his mind.”

Drew said that at least nine of the 13 board members had asked him to stay on as chief executive officer after he announced Wednesday that he was leaving in part because of political infighting and “public hypercriticism.” But Drew said he was declining “fundamentally for family reasons.”

He agreed to stay on until the end of January while a board committee prepares a recommendation for an interim chief executive officer and executive search teams for board consideration on Dec. 18.

Citing the continuing controversy over his actions at the transit agency one year after the death of his son, Drew said, “Last Christmas season, we were mourning in my house. I was not prepared to do that this year.” He called the constant criticism: “Death by a thousand razor blade cuts.”

“It’s like some of the toughest flying I’ve ever done in my life,” said Drew, a former Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam.

Drew said it was difficult for him and his family to read the day after Thanksgiving a Times editorial criticizing his handling of a controversial contract to supervise subway tunneling on the Eastside.

The contracting controversy has become the subject of an MTA inspector general’s investigation, but Drew said he had “no concerns” about the investigation.

In the latest drama at a place sometimes called Alice in Transitland, board members Thursday traded charges over who was responsible for driving away Drew, as state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) criticized the board outside the MTA building while transit officials considered ways to keep the subway project on schedule in the face of funding cuts. All the time, a subway critic sat in the audience wearing a T-shirt, “Crooked Politicians Build Crooked Tunnels.”

At a news conference after a closed session, Antonovich blasted “those elected officials who tell people they will stand behind them and then go AWOL.”

County Supervisor and MTA board member Yvonne Brathwaite Burke leaned into the microphone and said, “Unfortunately, Mr. Antonovich was not there when we considered the issue” Thursday.

Riordan bemoaned “micromanagement” by MTA board members, a charge that drew a sharp rebuke from another board member, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

“I am a little peeved about these micromanagement comments,” Yaroslavsky said. “It’s kind of odd that the charges are coming from people who themselves are seeking to put their own handpicked consultants and staff in the agency and have discussed such matters with the chief executive officer earlier last week.” He refused to name those he was talking about.

Riordan later responded in an interview, “I’m the least micromanager on the board.” He said that he occasionally offers advice, and in fact, recently suggested to Drew that he appoint a stronger top staff.

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Yaroslavsky said that the MTA will continue to have problems until the agency is restructured to eliminate parochial politics and insulate the staff from political pressure.

“I think there’s going to be serious changes proposed in the Legislature,” Yaroslavsky predicted.

Indeed, state Sen. Richard G. Polanco (D-Los Angeles) is planning to revive a bill in January that would abolish the current MTA board and call for an elected 14-member panel. A similar bill was bottled up in the Assembly last year, but its leading antagonist, former Assemblyman Richard Katz, has left the Legislature.

Polanco aide Bill Mabie said the bill would create seven districts in Los Angeles County from which citizens would select two representatives.

“Just about anything new would be better than what we have now,” Mabie said.

Riordan said that he spoke to his former chief of staff, William McCarley, about taking the transit chief’s job. But McCarley said Thursday that he isn’t interested, saying, “The biggest problem is all the unsolicited help you get.”

He added that his wife told him, “You better not be thinking about it.”

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The MTA

Here is a look at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, formed April 1, 1993, by the merging of the Southern California Rapid Transit District and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.

* THE PLAYERS: The MTA is governed by a 13-member board, which includes the five Los Angeles County supervisors, Mayor Richard Riordan and three other L.A. city appointees and four representatives from outlying cities.

* THE IMPACT: With a $3-billion budget, the agency operates the nation’s second-largest bus system, builds rail projects and chooses train and bus routes. The MTA also funds carpool lanes, Metrolink commuter trains and dial-a-ride services and allocates money to communities for local shuttles.

* RIDERSHIP: The MTA oversees the buses, trains and trolleys that serve more than 1 million passengers every day. In recent years, the agency has increased its focus on rail, opening Metrolink commuter lines and the Blue Line, Green Line and Red Line trolley and subway routes.

Source: Times files