MTA Management Is ‘Weak,’ Report Says
Management at the county’s transit agency is generally “weak and inexperienced,” lacks clear goals, rules by fear and has lost the trust of its board, according to an independent audit of the organization presented to the MTA on Thursday.
The report, which is the first top-to-bottom review of the 4-year-old Metropolitan Transportation Authority, described an agency that has spent millions to develop computer systems that have failed to work properly, suffers from an inability to recruit talented employees, lacks control over its basic planning and financing and gives little respect to the public or workers.
“The MTA has many smart people . . . but basic management, leadership and team-building skills, particularly at operating levels, are immature and need fundamental improvement,” said the report prepared by Coopers & Lybrand Consulting. “Levels of trust and empowerment are low and indicative of a controlling management style which must change.”
The comments come one week after MTA Chief Executive Joseph E. Drew resigned, citing political infighting at the agency. One MTA board member described the finding as a “cry for help.”
Amid the continuing turmoil, MTA board Chairman Larry Zarian issued an appeal to his colleagues to “stop being parochial and forget our own selfish needs.”
“I am beginning to think that, for the MTA, the month of December is not what it is meant to be--a holiday season filled with peace, happiness, prosperity and love,” Zarian said in an apparent reference to a series of crises that have included Drew’s resignation and political infighting.
In a swipe at the agency’s board members, the report details interviews with staff members throughout the agency who condemned interference by directors in the awarding of contracts and the lack of attention from supervisors to safety.
“Some board members . . . have begun the practice of calling MTA professional staff directly in order to influence the procurement process and the day-to-day construction activities,” the report said, quoting a conversation with construction staff members, but citing no examples.
According to the report, one employee complained that “buses routinely leave the lot in poor or unsafe mechanical condition and without functioning fare boxes” so that supervisors earn points for getting the vehicles on the road.
The presentation of the report, which cost $485,000 and took 16 weeks to prepare, proved as controversial as its contents. Mayor Richard Riordan, chairman of the agency’s executive management committee, told the consultants to condense their two-hour presentation into 15 minutes.
That spurred an angry protest from Zarian, a leading backer of the report, who called the demand “unfair.”
Calling it a “road map for the future of the organization,” the chairman vowed to bring the consultants back for a full report to the board next week.
But there was also some good news for the troubled agency Thursday. The California Transportation Commission cleared the way for the MTA to receive $100 million for construction of the Los Angeles subway and the downtown Los Angeles-to-Pasadena trolley line.
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The commission issued a finding that the MTA has prepared a plan guaranteeing it can “reduce its debt, achieve solvency and restore affordable bus service for the transit dependent.” The finding, necessary before the MTA could receive the funds, was required by a state law pushed by state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), an MTA critic.
Hayden, citing a projected $1-billion shortfall in the MTA’s long-range plan, said the commission action was based on “fantasy rather than fact” and he reiterated his concern that the subway project would siphon funds from bus service. But MTA officials cited a recent legal settlement that ensures increased bus service.
