Rail Project Hires Veteran Executive

Taking a major step to bolster its management team, the government agency building a $2-billion rail expressway to the county’s ports Thursday hired Long Beach City Manager James C. Hankla as the agency’s new chief executive officer.

After meeting in closed session for more than an hour, the board of the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority approved the appointment of Hankla on a part-time basis at least until his retirement from the city of Long Beach on Dec. 31.

“I am certainly flattered and humbled by the attention the board has paid to me,” Hankla told the agency’s leadership shortly after accepting the post. “I will try to do the best I can to justify your confidence.”

Hankla, 58, is a career civil servant who was the chief administrative officer for the county of Los Angeles from 1985 to 1987. He is regarded as one of California’s most powerful municipal administrators.

During his 11 years as Long Beach city manager, he steered the economic revival of the port town, which was devastated by the recession and shakeouts in the defense industry.

“We believe we now have a management team in place that can take the project through to its completion,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr., chairman of the corridor authority’s board.

The new chief executive will oversee all phases of developing the 20-mile-long transportation route, which is expected to vastly improve the movement of cargo from the region’s harbors to rail yards in downtown Los Angeles.

Government officials say the project, which will completely rebuild the rail lines and roads along Alameda Street, is necessary to accommodate the country’s increasing trade with Pacific Rim nations. Its scheduled completion date is 2001.

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Hankla replaces Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority General Manager Gill V. Hicks, who assumes the No. 2 spot in the agency’s reorganized hierarchy. Involved in the project since its inception more than a decade ago, Hicks has shepherded the corridor through its formative stages.

On Thursday, board members praised Hicks’ contributions, but said the agency now requires stronger management, as the corridor moves off the drawing board and into its main construction phase.

“A project of this magnitude needs the management expertise and experience Hankla can provide,” Svorinich said. “We want to ensure that the project is on time, on budget, and avoids the pitfalls of other large public works projects.”

Last week, the authority opened talks with Tutor-Saliba Corp. to build the costliest and most important phase of the project--a 10-mile concrete-lined trench that will contain two rail lines and a road.

In the months ahead, the agency will prepare to issue revenue bonds to pay for construction of the trench, which may cost up to $800 million.

“I’ve got a lot to learn in a very short time,” Hankla said Thursday. “ACTA is now entering serious discussions with Tutor-Saliba. I definitely want to be part of them.”

Initial discussions to recruit the Long Beach city manager began less than two weeks ago, when the agency sent a team of board members to discuss the new post with him. Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan said he suggested the idea of approaching Hankla after the city manager announced his retirement in July.

“I’ve thought very highly of Jim,” Riordan said. “This is the biggest government infrastructure project in the country. It deserves superb leadership.”

Hankla, whose appointment was unanimously approved, will spend three-fifths of his time as the agency’s chief executive officer and the remainder with Long Beach. The corridor agency will reimburse the city for most of Hankla’s $174,000 annual salary.

If all goes well, Svorinich said, the agency will approach Hankla this fall about the possibility of continuing full time after he retires from his city post. Whether he is retained will depend on the outcome of negotiations, the councilman said.