Hayden Rips Riordan’s Role With MTA

Mayoral challenger Tom Hayden accused Mayor Richard Riordan on Thursday of being incapable of fulfilling his role as an “independent watchdog” of worker safety on the Metro Rail subway project because he received $20,000 in contributions from prime contractor Tutor-Saliba nearly four years ago.

The accusation by Hayden at an MTA committee meeting being chaired by Riordan came only days after the death Saturday of a Tutor-Saliba worker in Hollywood. It was the first fatal accident in the 10-year history of Los Angeles subway construction. Another worker at the Tutor-Saliba tunnel in Hollywood was reported to have suffered a crushed hand this week.

“If you receive money from Tutor-Saliba, it inevitably creates the perception that you’re not going to be the independent watchdog that a board member has to be,” Hayden told the mayor during a public comment period.

Without responding, Riordan thanked the state senator for his comments and immediately moved on to another agenda item concerning worker retirement plans.

A spokeswoman for the mayor said later that the contributions from Tutor-Saliba were received in 1993, before Riordan was mayor and before he began serving on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board. Noelia Rodriguez said Hayden was trying to divert voter attention from the real issue of creating an effective transportation program for the county.

Hayden called on Riordan to support legislation he plans to introduce in Sacramento that would require the county transit agency to determine the level of worker safety by reporting all injuries regardless of their severity, rather than only more serious ones that cause an employee to miss work.

The proposal came after a Times story on Tuesday revealed that the rate of recordable injuries at two key Metro Rail tunnel construction sites was 30% to 60% above the national average for heavy construction, even though its rate of lost-time injuries is as much as 80% below the national average.

Such a requirement would “reveal to the public that MTA is way above the national average in safety problems, whereas the figures they use conveniently place them below,” Hayden said. “That might be good for public relations. It is not good for worker safety.”

Rodriguez said it would be premature for Riordan to respond to legislation that he has not seen and that has not been introduced.

Hayden said the legislation will also include requirements that the MTA take disciplinary action against contractors who have been cited for serious and willful safety violations by state and federal workplace authorities.

Campaign contribution reports filed by Riordan during his first run for mayor show that he received $15,000 in 15 separate checks from Tutor-Saliba officials and their spouses in May 1993. One of the firm’s principals, Ronald N. Tutor, was among those sending $1,000 checks to Riordan.

The mayor also received a $5,000 check from Tutor-Saliba for his officeholder account in June 1993, one day before he was sworn into office. Such accounts allow the mayor and council members to pay for such things as communicating with constituents.

The mayor’s spokeswoman said the contributions had “no impact on official business” once Riordan was in office. After he became a member of the MTA board, Riordan either did not vote or returned contributions involving contractors who gave more than $250 within 12 months of an MTA vote, she said.