CANDIDATES CHIDE MAYOR INACTIVITY IN STRIKE TALKS AT ISSUE.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

The leading contenders to succeed Mayor Richard Riordan generally ducked taking a clear side in the MTA strike Friday but said they would be at the bargaining table trying to settle the dispute.

With both direct and oblique references to Riordan's absence, the candidates all pointed to the impact of the strike on the 450,000 passengers who rely on the bus system daily to get to work, school or medical appointments.

mta; mass transit, labor; contract; valley; strike; reaction

Of the six major candidates, only State Controller Kathleen Connell, who announced her mayoral candidacy on Wednesday, did not respond to requests for interviews.

``I think the people forgotten in all this are the 450,000 riders who depend on the system, '' City Attorney James Hahn said. ``The mayor is the most powerful member of this board, and I would want to be there in face-to-face negotiations to work this out.

``If you leave it to the staff, as is being done, then you don't have the decision-makers involved. This is too important to too many people to let this thing drag on.''

Councilman Joel Wachs noted Riordan was in France on a bicycling excursion.

``I can tell you one place I wouldn't be and that's out of the country,'' said Wachs, who usually is an ally of the mayor.

Beyond that, Wachs said part of the problem is the secrecy in which the talks are being held.

``I would like the public to be able to hear the arguments from both sides, weigh the merits of the issues and decide it,'' Wachs said. ``It would be much better than the spin we get from both sides.

``I believe that once people lay all their cards out on the table, they are more likely to come to a fair decision. I don't think the public is ever well-served by things being done secretly where no one knows whom to believe.''

Neither Hahn nor Wachs would say how they would come down on the issues involved in the strike - including a change in working rules to have drivers work a split shift.

``Part of the problem with the secrecy is that we don't know all that is involved,'' Wachs said.

Hahn said it seems to him there are other factors involved.

``It seems to me that what is missing here is that there doesn't seem to be a willingness to look at other issues,'' Hahn said. ``It's the worst-kept secret in Los Angeles that the MTA has a bureaucracy that is bloated and living in that palace. There should be ways to make other savings.''

Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa, D-Los Angeles, who appeared at a union rally in support of the drivers Thursday, said he would have been working to avoid a strike months ago.

``What they should have done is sat down at a table, opened the books and worked with the unions to get a contract and concessions,'' Villaraigosa said. ``We should have been negotiating six months ago around the clock so we wouldn't be at this point today.''

Villaraigosa complained that the MTA board was demonizing the workers.

``They talk about $80,000-a-year drivers, but those people are working 13 to 14 hours a day, five days a week,'' Villaraigosa said. ``Now they want them to work those hours and not pay them. If they want to have savings, there are a lot more places to do it than with the workers.''

Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, said he generally supports the position of the drivers.

``My wife is a doctor, and if she's called to the hospital in the middle of the night, she is paid for that,'' Becerra said. ``If we need the fire department or police department, they are paid for that. It seems to me people should be paid for when they are working.''

As for the negotiations, Becerra lamented that they have gone on so long.

``If I was mayor, I would have rolled my sleeves up months ago and resolved this,'' Becerra said. ``And, if we were in a strike, I would be available and meeting as long as it took to get a resolution.''

Parks Commissioner Steve Soboroff voiced a similar thought.

``I've done this before,'' Soboroff said. ``When it came to the Alameda Corridor, we locked everyone in a room until we were able to get an agreement. If I were mayor today, we would be working around the clock to solve this.''

As far as the issues, Soboroff said the only one he was concerned about was the bus riders.

``We are penalizing absolutely the wrong people,'' Soboroff said. ``I would try to stop the press conferences and keep the talks going.''