Maybe the MTA Should Hire Greyhound for Those Special Jobs

For all those who complain about poor bus service by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, justice has been served: The agency has become the latest victim of its own alleged ineptitude.

On Thursday morning, the MTA held a flashy ceremony to officially pass the baton from its in-house police force to the LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department, which are assuming patrol duties for the agency’s buses and rail lines. On hand to mark the occasion were local bigwigs, including Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, Sheriff Sherman Block and Mayor Richard Riordan, who is also the MTA board chairman.

But what happened to the LAPD marching band, which was scheduled to kick off the event? The MTA bus chartered to pick up the musicians from the police academy never arrived, forcing the ceremony to go on without them.

“Apparently there was a communication snafu,” said MTA spokesman Rick Jager. “The bus was ordered, but evidently somebody didn’t get the word.”

Which left the bandleader--who had arrived at the event on his own steam--bereft of all his players.

“He just canceled,” Jager said.

Letter of the Law

Twice in the last two months, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon has had the city send out a letter to 199 people throughout the San Fernando Valley urging them to join him in supporting the construction of a new police bureau for the area.

Why 199?

The answer lies in state and local ethics codes, which defines a mass mailer as a letter sent to 200 people or more. If the city foots the bill for a mass mailer, there are restrictions to ensure that the letter is not used as a political promotional tool.

For example, photos of the politician are prohibited and references to him or her are limited to one mention.

Alarcon is not the first elected official to send out such government-funded mailings. Usually, officials send them out to inform constituents about community meetings or new city services.

But some critics are complaining that Alarcon’s letter smacks of self-promotion at taxpayer expense.

After all, they note that Alarcon has announced his intention to run for the Valley-based state Senate seat held by Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles).

“It just sounds to me like a guy who is trying to build up his police protection credentials,” said former Assemblyman Richard Katz, who is also running for the Rosenthal seat.

Hogwash, says the writer of the missive.

“I’m just trying to muster support for a new station at the General Motors plant site,” said Alarcon, a member of the council’s Public Safety Committee.

In fact, he said Katz got the state to pay for similar letters when he was an assemblyman.

Alarcon’s letter encourages recipients to write to the two other members of the Public Safety Committee, Laura Chick and Mike Feuer, to urge them to support the new bureau.

The letter reads: “As you know, public safety is my top priority, which is why I have put together resources to build a new Valley station, without raising your taxes.”

The letter was sent to people throughout the Valley, not just to those in Alarcon’s district. Alarcon said he sent them to people he thought would be interested in learning more about public safety issues in the area.

This is not the only letter sent out by Alarcon. He said that he has also sent out packets of newspaper clippings about himself to constituents who have shown interest in his work in City Hall.

“How else am I supposed to let people know what I’m doing?” Alarcon said. “Besides, I’m only doing 199 a month.”

Geography Quiz

In politics, what’s good for the goose isn’t always good for the gander--especially when it’s your goose that might get cooked.

Such is one possible interpretation of the stand taken by some Los Angeles City Council members this week on state legislation that would have Los Angeles Community College District trustees elected by geographic area rather than at large, as they are now.

The legislation was introduced by Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), who asked for the council’s support although it has no formal jurisdiction over the colleges.

Backers of Cardenas’ bill point out that several parts of the city go unrepresented on the community college board, including the San Fernando Valley, which boasts two of the system’s nine campuses but none of its seven trustees.

“To suggest that we should have centralized elections knowing communities will be left out of the process is wrong,” said Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents many of the same neighborhoods as Cardenas.

But there was Councilman Joel Wachs, arguing that the Valley was actually better served with at-large representatives on the college board, not worse. As evidence, he pointed to the political debacle last year in which the trustees snuck in a property-tax increase, then agreed to put it to a popular vote after residents, including many Valley homeowners, expressed their outrage.

The vote-rich Valley “had more influence because all of [the trustees] were responsible to them,” Wachs said. If the Valley merely had one trustee on the board, he contends, the tax would have passed 6 to 1 and gone into effect without the popular vote, which shot it down.

“Sometimes narrowing yourself down to only one person who is in your area can turn against you,” Wachs said.

OK--but if at-large representation is good enough for the community college district, why isn’t it good enough for the City Council?

For one, “at-large districts for the City Council have historically not created diversity” on the council, said Wachs, who has represented the 2nd District for more than a quarter of a century. The community college board, however, is currently an ethnically diverse body.

For another, the work of the college panel is not so geographically oriented as the City Council, he said. “Our job requires us to be present day to day at each neighborhood group, each church group [meeting]. . . . With the community college system, you need people to look at the big picture.

“It’s apples and oranges.”

Maybe. But the real fruit of the debate was that Wachs’ viewpoint prevailed: The council voted 11 to 4 to remain neutral on Cardenas’ bill.

And You Are . . . ?

Maybe Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale) needs to wear a big sign around his neck that reads: “Elected representative. Please treat with respect.”

Rogan recently recounted an example of his unsuccessful effort to get a little of that when he went to his local supermarket to buy groceries.

The freshman congressman said he was dressed in casual attire, including a baseball cap, when he produced a check to pay for the groceries.

The cashier noted that the check identified Rogan as a United States congressman and listed his address as 502 Cannon Building, Washington, D.C. The cashier said he couldn’t accept it because “this is an out-of-state check.”

Rogan, a former prosecutor and Municipal Court judge, looked at her in astonishment and argued that the check was from his Glendale-based bank account. He had simply used his Washington address because he didn’t want to distribute his home address on his checks.

The cashier didn’t buy it. She called the manager and after a few minutes of debate, they reluctantly agreed to accept his check.

And Rogan thought it was difficult distinguishing himself as a freshman in Washington. . . .

Quotable

“I think it’s premature for me to say it’s a great idea. I think there are some broad implications here. It would be very business-friendly for us to tell all of our businesses they didn’t have to pay taxes.”

Councilwoman Laura Chick on plans to change home occupation and business tax laws to exempt writers and others who work out of their homes with no impact on their neighborhoods