CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST STATUTE STYMIES MTA.

Byline: Douglas Haberman Daily News Staff Writer

Seven of the 13 MTA board members were excluded from voting Thursday on a crucial contract for the North Hollywood subway extension because they admitted they took campaign contributions from the contractor.

To muster the necessary seven votes to even consider the motion, the board held a lottery, and Councilman Hal Bernson of the northwest San Fernando Valley was allowed to vote. He and five members voted for the contract, but county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky dissented, causing the motion to fail by a single vote.

MTA Chief Executive Officer Julian Burke said the rejection of the contract means the Valley subway extension will miss its scheduled opening date of May 2000. The length of the delay was unclear, he said.

``We're going to slow down this project, have more expense as a result of slowing it down and possibly delay the opening beyond the announced date,'' said Burke, obviously upset.

Claiming the conflict-of-interest law has paralyzed the board, members said they want to cut the number of votes necessary to pass a motion as a way of circumventing the rule's intent.

Seven board members could not vote on this contract because they each had received at least $10 in campaign contributions from the contractor, engineering management consultant Parsons-Brinckerhoff/DMJM, within the past four years.

Those disqualified were Bernson; Mayor Richard Riordan, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board; Councilman Richard Alatorre; and Supervisors Michael D. Antonovich, Don Knabe, Gloria Molina and Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.

Yaroslavsky could not be reached for comment after the meeting.

Joining Bernson in voting yes were Gardena Councilman James Cragin, Duarte Councilman John Fasana, Riordan appointee Jose Legaspi, Long Beach Councilwoman Jenny Oropeza and Glendale Councilman Larry Zarian.

MTA board members have found themselves in a similar quandary since the retroactive, $10 limit took effect in January under a California law written by state Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Los Angeles.

After failing to get seven yes votes, board members complained about the law and debated ways to get around it or make it less restrictive.

A member of Hayden's staff said they shouldn't look to the lawmaker for help.

``We pulled them out of the pocket of contractors and they're trying to climb back in,'' said Hayden's chief of staff, Rocky Rushing. He said it may be time to talk about creating a board consisting of nonelected officials as a way of avoiding conflicts of interest from campaign contributions.

``What I don't think is the right thing to do is go back to where we've been,'' Rushing said, adding, ``That's what got the MTA into this mess,'' referring to the agency's financial problems.

MTA board members contended that the campaign contribution law has made it hard for the agency to progress. Between absences and conflicts of interest under the law, the board sometimes lacks enough members even to vote on certain items.

``It isn't us who've been disenfranchised; it's the people who elected us,'' Bernson said.

Riordan has been pushing for a solution, and the board was scheduled to vote Thursday on a staff recommendation to lower the minimum number of votes necessary to pass a motion.

The proposal would have required a majority of however many board members are present at any given meeting and who don't have a conflict of interest. At least three yes votes would be required for a matter to pass.

After more discussion, the board postponed a vote on the proposal until January.

To get board approval for the stalled contract for the North Hollywood subway extension, a special meeting might have to be held during December, when no board meeting is scheduled, MTA officials said.