Next Time, MTA May Get More Than a Spanking

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board finds itself in another jam of its own making. Like a bunch of misbehaving adolescents, it has been ordered by Transportation Secretary Federico Pena to adopt a “code of conduct” barring it from interference in day-to-day MTA operations. Pena warned that future federal funding is at issue.

In other circumstances, Pena’s words could be dismissed as a meaningless parting shot from a lame-duck secretary about to move on to other Cabinet responsibilities, but not in this case. Remember that the Clinton administration tried to give the MTA and San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit projects much of the federal “new start” dollars they wanted last year--when carrying California in the presidential election was seen as crucial. But the Congress had other priorities, and it diverted more than half of the MTA dollars to other projects nationwide. Wouldn’t it be foolish now to count on another big push for federal MTA dollars from an administration that no longer has any election worries?

That, of course, brings us back to jams, and the meddling MTA board. The MTA has no chief executive officer or interim CEO, but the MTA has been warned by Pena to come up with plausible plans by Jan. 15 for completing its current rail line projects. Just days after his admonition, the board was still squabbling like pigeons over bread crumbs, unable even to settle on a construction manager for the Eastside subway.

Meanwhile, the board has pressing tasks. Since it seems to require some guidance, here’s a likely list, in order of priorities:

Pick an interim CEO. Launch a national search for a permanent CEO (which the board failed to do last year after it fired Franklin White). In the matter of picking an Eastside subway construction manager, hire the first or the second choice presented by a panel of national experts that cost the MTA $375,000. Next, work with the interim CEO to quickly review all current rail and non-rail construction projects and rank them in order of importance, then vote on how to proceed. Lastly, there are so many areas in which the MTA can cut spending that they cannot be enumerated here. But here’s a hint: Review the steady stream of audits recently performed on the agency. After that, take a hard look at the authority’s questionable spending. We intend to.