DAVIS VETO SAVES VALLEY BUS PLAN.

Byline: Terri Hardy Sacramento Bureau

Plans for the San Fernando Valley to take over operation of 27 MTA bus lines were kept alive Monday when Gov. Gray Davis announced his veto of a bill that could have made a new transit zone too expensive.

Relieved Valley business and civic leaders voiced approval of the governor's action, which they said will allow for continued efforts to improve public transit through local control.

``Hopes for a decent bus system are still alive today because the governor came down on the side of the people dependent on transit,'' said Richard Katz, a former Assemblyman who is co-chairman of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association's transportation committee, which opposed Senate Bill 372.

Under the bill, union contracts with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority would have been maintained in a new Valley zone or expansion of the Foothill Transit Zone in the San Gabriel Valley. The result could have been that a transit zone would be too costly and infeasible, the bill's critics said.

In his two-paragraph veto message, Davis said he ``does not think it is appropriate for the state to mandate how local public agencies conduct collective bargaining.''

But the governor warned that he will revisit the issue if he is persuaded that MTA workers shifted into a transit zone are losing rights won through collective bargaining.

``I would prefer that the MTA recognize existing collective bargaining agreements and not use the establishment of transportation zones as a subterfuge for denying workers rights for which they have already bargained,'' Davis said.

The controversial bill pitted labor against business, and Democrats against Republicans. Supporters touted SB 372 as crucial protection for workers while opponents, including Valley business and civic leaders, said it would make it impractical for the nine-city region to improve bus service by forcing them to create a ``mini-MTA.''

Midnight Sunday was the constitutional deadline for the governor to sign into law or veto hundreds of bills sent to him by the Legislature, which ended its session a month earlier.

Labor supported bill

Many were surprised by Davis' rejection of the Valley transit bill, which had been heavily supported by labor interests and co-authored by several powerful Democrats, including Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, D-Los Angeles, and several Valley Democratic lawmakers.

Michael Bustamante, spokesman for the governor said the bottom line was local control.

``The governor believed this was a local issue not a state issue and everyone should act in a mature manner and handle it themselves.''

Nine Valley-area cities - Agoura Hills, Burbank, Calabasas, Glendale, Hidden Hills, La Canada Flintridge, San Fernando, Westlake Village and Los Angeles - and the county of Los Angeles have been developing plans for a Valley transit zone.

Supporters of the proposed zone include the MTA, the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley and VICA leaders.

A committee appointed to work on the creation of a new Valley bus system can now begin to work on the issue, Katz said. ``They weren't moving forward because with the bill looming, they thought what was the point?'' Katz said.

Transit zone compromise?

If the details can be worked out, it could take from 12 months to 18 months to form a Valley bus system, said Irwin Rosenberg, a co-chairman of VICA's transportation committee and vice president for the Western Area of Laidlaw Transit Services Inc.

Rosenberg said that should provide enough time to work with labor on its concerns. He said he hopes the governor's decision sends a message to labor to cooperate and try to work out a fair agreement.

``This was a one-sided bill,'' Rosenberg said. ``I know there are ways we can work to protect workers while keeping requirements flexible and allowing competitive contracts.''

Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl, D-Encino, a co-author of the bill, said going back to the table would be in the best interest of both sides.

``I hope the governor is encouraging continued negotiations,'' Kuehl said. ``I'm concerned if this is going to be a struggle locally because there are so many things to deal with when forming a transit zone - this issue is just one of them.''

Paul Hefner, spokesman for Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, who supported the bill and worked feverishly behind the scenes for a compromise to the politically uncomfortable measure, expressed disappointment at the governor's decision.

``Our feeling was that this bill struck the right balance of protecting employees and providing the Valley an opportunity to create a transit zone,'' Hefner said.

School toxic bill vetoed

Davis disappointed consumer and health groups Monday by vetoing the AB 1207, the Healthy Schools Act, a measure that sought to protect children from toxics at schools.

To show their outrage, they held a news conference in front of the Capitol, and drove a 40,000-gallon tanker truck over a model of a ``healthy school.''

``Davis sided with the pesticide industry, which has been lobbying heavily against the bill, even though the measure had support from over 50 public interest organizations,'' said Jonathan Kaplan, toxic program director for the California Public Interest Research Group.

The measure would have required the assessment of environmental conditions in schools - including portable classrooms. And, it would have required notification of parents when schools were using pesticides on school grounds.

In his veto message, Davis said the bill contained ``overly prescriptive requirements on the use of pesticides.'' He said the state Department of Finance estimated it would cost ``tens of millions of dollars'' for school districts to comply with the notification process.

Davis noted he set aside $1 million in his 1999-2000 budget to provide a review of air quality in portable classrooms - a result of Daily News stories that reported a state working group's concerns over environmental safety in the bungalows.

Davis announced he signed two bills authored by Assemblyman Scott Wildman, D-Burbank, and Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Montebello, that will require new environmental scrutiny and clean-up requirements when school districts build a new campus - a reaction to the Belmont Learning Center scandal.