Connected lawyer on track for Santa Fe; Kantor is negotiating for railway in impasse with L.A.Connected lawyer on track for Santa Fe Santa Fe Railway, rebuffed by transit officials for the $1.3 billion pricetag it put on key commuter-rail track, has a powerful Los Angeles lawyer trying to break the negotiating gridlock Gridlock A government, business or institution's inability to function at a normal level due either to complex or conflicting procedures within the administrative framework or to impending change in the business. . Mickey Kantor - an attorney with the politically connected Westside law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and a longtime ally of Mayor Tom Bradley - has been representing the Illinois-based railroad concern since November. Talks between Santa Fe Railway and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission have been stalled for several months over the sale of 243 miles of urban and rural railroad track. Santa Fe is asking $1.3 billion for the tracks, needed for planned commuter rail lines connecting Los Angeles with Orange County, San Bernardino and Anaheim. The LACTC LACTC Los Angeles County Transportation Commission , which called a press conference last April to urge Santa Fe to come up with a bid that didn't "break the public treasury," is offering $300 million. "The impasse seems to be standard operating procedure standard operating procedure Medtalk A technique, method or therapy performed 'by the book,' using a standard protocol meeting internally or externally defined criteria; a formal, written procedure that describes how specific lab operations are to be performed. for these types of situations," said LACTC Chairman and Long Beach City Councilman Ray Grabinski. "There has been a lot of posturing and shifting and I would hope with Mr. Kantor coming on board, it means we're getting down to the late innings so we can conduct the business we need to." Kantor, who has been active in California's Democratic politics for years, is no stranger to high-profile cases. The 51-year-old attorney represented Bradley against charges of financial misconduct several years ago, lobbied for Lockheed Corp. on a controversial, $49 million parking ticket contract and is a member of the Christopher Commission, the Bradley-appointed panel investigating the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . . Kantor said his link to Bradley, who is an LACTC board member, "has nothing to do" with the Santa Fe talks. "My relationship with the mayor has nothing to do with this," Kantor said. "We are trying to negotiate a fair market price, but we aren't close enough to make a prediction. ...The (commuter rail) system the LACTC is putting together is critical and Santa Fe understands that." Kantor noted that lawyer and venture capitalist Venture Capitalist An investor who provides capital to either start-up ventures or support small companies who wish to expand but do not have access to public funding. Notes: Venture capitalists usually expect higher returns for the additional risks taken. Richard Riordan, another Bradley confidante con·fi·dante n. 1. A woman to whom secrets or private matters are disclosed. 2. A woman character in a drama or fiction, such as a trusted friend or servant, who serves as a device for revealing the inner thoughts or intentions who serves on the city's Parks and Recreation Commission, is representing the LACTC in the Santa Fe talks. "Dick Riordan was hired because we knew the other side had heavy guns," said Nick Patsaouras, an LACTC board member and president of the Southern California Rapid Transit District. "I'd speculate that Kantor was brought in not only for his legal expertise but for his political savvy." Sources close to the negotiations indicated that Santa Fe has also retained Marathon Communications, a public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most firm that has worked on numerous political campaigns. In addition, Santa Fe may be trying to get former Gov. George Deukmejian on its board of directors, sources said. The LACTC recently paid Southern Pacific Railroad "Southern Pacific" redirects here. For the country-rock band, see Southern Pacific (band) The Southern Pacific Railroad (AAR reporting marks SP) was an American railroad. $450 million for 174 miles of track needed for commuter rail through Santa Monica, the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. and San Bernardino. |
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