Audit of MTA Is Urged

A group of state lawmakers called Tuesday for an audit of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a move sparked by concerns that the transit agency’s legal practices hamper construction efforts.

The state’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted 8 to 1 to investigate allegations made by state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar). Alarcon said aggressive litigation by the MTA against contractors is discouraging some builders from bidding with the agency and causing others to add millions in extra costs to their proposals as a hedge against potential lawsuits.

The MTA is “failing to create a competitive atmosphere,” Alarcon said. “They are creating a climate of fear.”

MTA officials flatly rejected that viewpoint. “We have nothing to hide here,” said Steve Carnevale, MTA legal chief. “If some auditors want to look at what we have done here, that’s fine.”

Alarcon said he wanted the audit to look closely at the MTA’s use of Wasserman, Comden, Casselman & Pearson, a Los Angeles law firm that represents the agency on some construction lawsuits. Alarcon said the firm was wasting public money by urging the agency to take on frivolous litigation.

Carnevale noted that the firm’s biggest case, a lawsuit against the construction firm Tutor-Saliba Corp. over the building of parts of the Red Line subway, came out successfully for the MTA. The company was forced to pay the MTA $51 million in damages and legal fees. The case is under appeal.

As evidence that the agency’s litigation has hurt the MTA’s efforts to pay a fair cost for its most expensive construction projects, Alarcon pointed to recent bidding on a portion of the proposed East Los Angeles light rail line. The agency received two bids, with the low bid coming in at roughly $50 million more than the MTA had estimated.

MTA officials said the agency recently signed an agreement with a contractor for a 14-mile dedicated busway in the San Fernando Valley for roughly $16 million less than internal estimates.

The state auditor’s department said the MTA audit would cost taxpayers at least $171,500.