EDITORIAL TRANSIT HYPOCRISY VOTE ON BUS POLICY SHOWS CITY HALL'S REAL ALLEGIANCE IS TO SPECIAL INTERESTS.

IF there were an award for Commitment to Hypocrisy in city government, no doubt the Los Angeles City Council would be a shoo-in in honor of the resolution it passed at Tuesday's meeting.

The council voted 14-0 to oppose a recent decision by the MTA board to appeal a court order to buy 145 new buses for $40 million as ordered by a court-appointed overseer of a consent decree. No matter that the council has no jurisdiction over the countywide agency. And no matter that the city has four of 13 members of the MTA board and can't convince anyone but itself of its position.

Of course, it would have helped if Mayor James Hahn could have found time in his busy schedule for the MTA board's closed-door meeting and conference call follow-up at which the future of public transit in the county was being debated and decided.

Instead, the city's representatives - the same ones who did their best to undermine the MTA's position when the mechanics conducted their recent destructive and unnecessary strike - took turns Tuesday posturing. They made passionate speeches about how they stand on the side of good and are fighting for the poor bus riders of Los Angeles who have been victimized by the MTA's past policies.

Oh, please.

The MTA board voted to appeal the ruling because there are cheaper and better ways to improve bus service for the transit-dependent. The MTA, like every government agency in California, is struggling with its finances. The board rightly concluded that it's a very bad time to spend millions on new buses, particularly since it already has hundreds of buses on back order.

That's well-known to the city representatives, but political grandstanding is what they do best and solving problems is what they do worst.

In fact, Hahn and the council were simply looking out for the unions, as usual, and the misnamed organization that fronts for them, the Bus Riders Union.

The ill-considered consent decree has cost the MTA about $750 million so far for expanding bus hours and new buses, but legal fees and administrative costs have eaten away millions that would better have been spent on improving service and keeping fares down.

If City Council members really want to stick up for those dependent on public transportation, they would work with the other board members and MTA officials to figure out how to improve services within the financial constraints, not alienate them by donning a false cloak of righteousness.

The council's action was symbolic, and what it symbolizes most is that our city leaders owe their allegiance to a few special interests. Too bad they couldn't have put the energy spent Tuesday into sitting down with the rest of the board and helping to guide them into improving public transportation.