State Rule Could Be Obstacle for MTA

Just as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was moving toward a solution of its problems with its federal paymasters, officials in Sacramento have thrown up a potentially troublesome roadblock that could make it even harder to complete construction of the subway to North Hollywood on schedule.

The problem is a one-sentence demand, approved Thursday by the California Transportation Commission, requiring that all MTA board members sign a statement--under penalty of perjury--that they are not using state construction funds to finance operations, such as the bus system.

The language was pushed through by San Fernando Valley lawyer David Fleming, a state transportation commissioner who said he has no evidence that the MTA plans to spend state funds for anything other than their intended purpose and no way to detect such diversions.

But the language could pose a serious problem for the MTA, where it is difficult to get board members to agree on anything. What if a lone board member opposed to subway construction refused to sign?

Fleming said he would consider changing the wording to require a majority of board members to sign the statement.

One MTA board member called the demand “insulting.” Another board member, county Supervisor Don Knabe, said he wouldn’t sign the statement.

Fleming said the commission can change the rule, even waive it. But he added: “If they don’t want to sign, I want to know why. . . . Why are we supposed to commit public funds for a particular purpose, but they don’t promise to use it for that purpose?”

MTA officials faced the new demand just a day after Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan received a phone call from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater praising the transit board for its decision Wednesday to suspend rail projects to the Eastside, Mid-City and Pasadena, while focusing on completing the subway to North Hollywood.

“He told the mayor he thought it was a good move on the part of the board,” said Riordan press aide Noelia Rodriguez. “He said it was the right thing to do, and he was glad to see it happen.”

The plan approved by the MTA board Wednesday calls for using $207 million in state funds to complete the subway to North Hollywood by 2000. MTA officials said they need to keep the project on track in order to win back the confidence of federal officials, who have held up the agency’s federal funding until it completes an acceptable recovery plan.

If board members refuse to sign the statement demanded by the state commission, Sacramento could withhold its funds.

Fleming said he supports completing the subway to North Hollywood, which made it even more difficult for MTA officials to understand the state’s demand.

“The commission approved this?” asked an incredulous Zev Yaroslavsky, a county supervisor and MTA board member. “In light of the consequences on the completion of the Red Line to North Hollywood, they ought to reconsider.”

Knabe said that the state should be giving the MTA more flexibility to solve its problem, not “tying its hands.”

Julian Burke, the MTA’s interim chief executive, has assured Fleming that the state money is being used only for its intended purpose.

But Fleming said it would not be sufficient for the CEO to sign the statement. “Frankly, my level of confidence with what that staff at MTA tells me is not very high,” he said.

Burke was meeting with state lawmakers in Sacramento on Friday, discussing his plans to turn around the agency. An MTA spokesman said the CEO planned to appear at the February meeting of the state Transportation Commission.

A Riordan aide said the mayor had not talked to Fleming and could not comment.

Jim Cragin, an MTA board member from Gardena, said he would have no objection to signing the statement, so long as the staff does too--”so when we walk over to Twin Towers [jail], our staff people come with us.”

Separately, some state officials have expressed concern that the MTA still has state funds set aside for the suspended rail projects. MTA officials say they have set aside the money because the agency is studying ways to build all or part of the projects.