GRAND JURY SUMMONS FORMER AIRPORT EXEC.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

A Los Angeles County grand jury has subpoenaed a former top LAX official to testify today in the continuing investigation into possible links between airport contracts and political contributions, the Daily News has learned.

Richard M. Janisse, a former deputy executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, was ordered to appear this morning as a ``witness in an investigation pending before said grand jury,'' according to the Jan. 13 subpoena obtained by the Daily News.

Janisse, a Laguna Beach resident, declined comment. He oversaw property management, concession contracts and other business issues from June 2001 until he resigned on Dec. 1.

Several sources - including individuals who have been interviewed by district attorney's investigators - said the grand jury is looking at whether commissioners or others pressured contractors for campaign contributions.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said a predominant line of questioning has been whether contractors were asked to make political contributions in return for work or the promise of contracts on Mayor James Hahn's $9.1 billion Los Angeles International Airport modernization proposal, or faced being blackballed for balking at making contributions.

Joe Scott, the district attorney's spokesman, said, ``We cannot comment on grand jury matters.''

District Attorney Steve Cooley has been looking at airport contracting practices for at least two months, including whether airport commission President Ted Stein or others possibly linked political fund raising and the awarding of millions of dollars in contracts.

Stein has not returned repeated phone calls but has issued a statement denying any wrongdoing. Hahn has said he believes Stein, a major fund-raiser for the mayor, has done nothing improper.

Among the contracts that have been questioned during the inquiry was one to concessionaire W.H. Smith, the sources said.

Janisse was among those who spoke at a May 2002 Airport Commission meeting on the advisability of continuing the contract with W.H. Smith - rather than put the contract out to bid - after it was noted that concession sales had dropped dramatically after the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

According to W.H. Smith lobbyist Clark Davis, Janisse's department was involved in the negotiations, which Davis said faced serious political obstacles.

Davis has told investigators and the Daily News that former Department of Water and Power Commissioner Leland Wong pressured him to bring in Art M. Gastelum, a longtime political activist and campaign fund-raiser, as part of the lobbying team.

Wong, 46, who was moved by Hahn from the Airport Commission to the DWP commission, resigned his post on Jan. 13, as well as his private-sector job as Kaiser Permanente's director of government and community relations in Southern California. He faced allegations that he improperly used his employer's money to sponsor campaign fund-raisers and give politicians gifts.

Wong and Gastelum have not returned phone calls.

Davis said in an interview that after he agreed to split the contract with Gastelum, he still faced pressure and subsequently agreed to wear a wire for district attorney's investigators.

W.H. Smith officials could not be reached for comment Monday.

City Controller Laura Chick in a scathing audit of the airports last month raised questions about a number of contracts, including the practice of commissioners sitting on review panels before awarding millions of dollars in contracts.

Hahn has since stopped the practice, but has said commissioners should be allowed to raise campaign funds although the City Council and the Ethics Commission are considering a total ban.

Among the contracts auditors questioned for lack of documentation was a 2 1/2-year contract extension for HMS Host Corp.

At the time of the award in February 2002, commission vice president Warren Valdry publicly accused Stein, the president, of circumventing usual channels and putting the deal together himself.

``My concern was that was not in compliance with city ordinance, the mayor and the City Council's intentions when they appointed these members on the commission,'' Valdry said in a recent interview.

Though Valdry had been on the commission nearly a decade, he said he was subsequently asked to leave by Deputy Mayor Troy Edwards.

``Troy ... said the mayor wanted to take many of his trusted commissioners and to spread them out to get experiences in other areas,'' Valdry said.

Valdry said he declined a new post.

Beth Barrett, [phone]

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com