L.A. STREETS DIRECTOR QUITS HAHN APPOINTEE, VILLARAIGOSA OFTEN CLASHED.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

In the first shake-up of city department heads under Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Transportation Director Wayne Tanda is resigning from his $177,262-a-year job, officials said Wednesday.

Tanda, who was hired three years ago by then-Mayor James Hahn, had clashed frequently with Villaraigosa when the mayor served as chairman of the City Council's Transportation Committee.

In a letter of resignation dated Tuesday, however, Tanda said he was quitting because of the demands of traveling from San Jose where his wife, Diane, is a teacher and where he worked for 31 years. An interim general manager will be named in the next several weeks.

Villaraigosa issued a statement praising Tanda's work and saying an international search will be conducted to find his successor.

``As the general manager of the Department of Transportation for over three years, Mr. Tanda has worked to relieve traffic congestion, reduce the impact of development on city streets and ensure the safety of the millions of drivers who commute on Los Angeles streets,'' Villaraigosa said.

``The need to improve our transportation system and get Los Angeles moving again is as great as any need facing the city of Los Angeles.''

Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who currently heads the Transportation Committee, said Tanda's resignation and the retirement of the Planning Department director, Con Howe, give the city a unique opportunity.

``It isn't often you can fill both a planning director job and a transportation director job at the same time,'' Greuel said. ``Traffic is our most important issue in the city today, followed closely by planning. The people we select for these jobs are going to have to work together and work with the community.''

Tanda said he is proud of his work with neighborhood councils and his efforts to mitigate the traffic impact of housing developments and to improve traffic flow.

``The Los Angeles experience was challenging, invigorating and rewarding,'' Tanda said.

As a councilman, Villaraigosa took the Department of Transportation to task for being more than two years behind on a state-mandated deadline to convert traffic signals to a more energy-efficient system.

Soon after his election as mayor, Villaraigosa announced he would press the issue and wanted to hire a private contractor to come in and install the signals at the city's 4,300 intersections.

Rick Orlov, [phone]

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com