MAYOR: IMPROVE 911 NOW; RIORDAN SAYS VOTERS SHOULD NOT TOLERATE FURTHER DELAY ON CONTRACT.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

Saying any further delays in building two new 911 centers would be ``intolerable and unacceptable,'' Mayor Richard Riordan called Thursday for the Board of Public Works to approve the projects next week.

Riordan, angry at interim City Administrative Officer Paul Cauley's last-minute bid to stall the projects, said the city needs to keep the promise made to voters when they approved a 1992 bond measure for $235 million.

``It has been seven years, and we still don't have the facilities,'' the mayor said. ``The longer we wait to build our new 911 centers, the longer people will have to wait when they call 911. That is unacceptable.

``We must stop the delays. We must stop them now.''

Riordan said the problem illustrates why he thinks City Charter reform is essential.

Under current provisions of the charter, the mayor is not part of the process in which Cauley was named interim CAO. Cauley, who said he asked for a delay in hope of saving the city money, wanted to study the potential for putting one of the centers into the Department of Water and Power's Anthony Building in Sun Valley rather than building it in the West Valley.

But other officials said rewriting the deal now could delay the project nearly a year, and they cast doubt on whether it would save any money.

Los Angeles Police Department officials also called the Anthony Building inappropriate for a 911 center and seismically unsafe.

The president of the Public Works Commission, Ellen Stein, said she agrees with Riordan and will recommend awarding the $37.7 million contract to Tutor-Saliba when the board meets Wednesday.

``We're going to move ahead with this,'' Stein said. ``The people of this city voted for this and are entitled to have it. We will do everything we can to do it.''

The contract calls for building one of the centers at the former Hughes site in West Hills and the other next to the Parker Center in downtown Los Angeles.

If the board approves a bid to build the two identical centers, the contract will be awarded unless a City Council member decides to contest the action. As of Thursday, no council member indicated he would.

Riordan said he was upset to learn on Wednesday of Cauley's effort to delay award of the contract.

``Here we have a faceless bureaucrat determining policy,'' Riordan said. ``People ask why we need charter reform. This is one of those reasons. A faceless bureaucrat decides to halt this project, and no one knows about it.

``This is bureaucracy at its worst, run by faceless bureaucrats who are not accountable to the people of Los Angeles. Here is a clear symbol of how the status quo reigns supreme in City Hall, without regard to taxpayers' money or to taxpayers' safety.''

Riordan's staff criticized a City Charter provision that left the mayor powerless to name an interim replacement when CAO Keith Comrie retired two months ago. The charter allowed Comrie to name his own temporary successor.

In his defense, Cauley said he was only following the instructions of the City Council to review the project and study whether it would be cheaper to use the Anthony Building.

``We are just following our instructions,'' Cauley said. ``Until someone tells us differently, we will continue our study.''

Councilwoman Laura Chick, who heads the City Council's Public Safety Committee, challenged Riordan's stand.

``I certainly don't support further delays, but if there is a $7 million or $8 million savings in tax dollars, I would like to look at it,'' Chick said.

``It seems senseless to me to engage in finger-pointing, name-calling and blaming. I don't see how that speeds up accountability and . . . public safety facilities.''

One of the main factors in determining if there would be savings is the cost of the property. The DWP believes the property's value is $60 million, while Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton's staff has estimated it at $34 million. That has led to questions about whether there would be any savings, and Police Chief Bernard Parks says the building would be a poor choice even if there were.

``It is an inappropriate site,'' Parks said. ``All along, the idea was to build twin facilities for training and emergency use. To reconfigure the Anthony site to do this would be impossible.''

Roger Ham, commanding officer of the LAPD's information and communication bureau, said there would be additional construction costs.

``This building is on a liquefaction plain, which would mean extensive work to meet seismic standards,'' Ham said.

City Engineer Vitaly Troyan said it would take up to six months to develop new plans, and then another bidding process would take about four months.

Troyan recommended awarding the contract to Tutor-Saliba over two other bidders, S.J. Amoroso Construction Co. and Swinerton-Walberg Co.

In a report to the Public Works board, Troyan said Tutor-Saliba submitted the lowest bid and also received points for its plan to hire minorities and women contractors.

Tutor-Saliba has handled many major projects around Los Angeles County but also has been involved in numerous controversies over its work with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.