POLITICAL GRIDLOCK STALLS MTA REPLACEMENT VOTE SAN FERNANDO AND ANTELOPE VALLEYS ARE ENGAGED IN BATTLE BETWEEN BIG AND SMALL CITIES.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer

Political gridlock has kept officials from the San Fernando and Antelope valleys from choosing a replacement for an outgoing MTA board member.

A committee of cities from the area will try for the third time today to nominate a board member for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority after there were too many no-shows at two prior meetings to take a vote.

The nomination procedure tilts the votes to the bigger cities among the 12 San Fernando and Antelope valley cities that choose the nominee, and that doesn't sit well with some smaller cities in the group.

Glendale, the biggest city, with about 200,000 residents, has put forward Councilman Ara Najarian, and he apparently has enough votes to win the nomination. But a committee meeting last Thursday was one person short of a quorum so there was no vote.

``I don't know what they're doing,'' said San Fernando Mayor Nury Martinez, who attended Thursday's meeting. ``I think it's unfortunate that a group of elected officials can't seem to get a quorum together.''

The 12 cities in the group have a variety of different projects they want the MTA to pursue. For the growing Antelope Valley, adding lanes to the 14 Freeway is a priority. Glendale officials hope for a transit link between the MTA's Metro Gold Line and the Red Line.

Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts, the current representative for the 12-city group on the MTA board, was one of those who didn't show up. Roberts leaves the MTA board seat next month, and he favors La Canada Flintridge Councilman Dave Spence as his replacement.

He said he wanted to attend last Thursday's meeting to put in a word for Spence but couldn't make it, saying he couldn't fit it into his schedule.When told the members needed just one more person for a quorum, he said, ``Oh, that's too bad.''

``The way this thing works, there are five cities that control, which is not a good thing at all,'' Roberts said. ``Five cities that control the vote, and they are the big cities.''

Spence himself was expected to attend Thursday's meeting as the representative for his city. But he had no intention of going.

``I decided to not participate because I felt that there are a number of other ... cities that are not satisfied,'' he said. ``And if I had participated I would have made it a slam dunk for my opponent to get the nomination.''

There are a total of 87 votes assigned, based on population, to the 12 members of the North County/San Fernando Valley sector. Glendale, Burbank and Santa Clarita have all expressed support for Najarian, and they have more than a majority with 49 votes.

Glendale alone has 21 votes. La Canada Flintridge, Lancaster, Westlake Village, Malibu, Hidden Hills and Calabasas all missed the two prior committee meetings, and they have 20 votes between them.

Before Roberts, former Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian held the MTA board seat. ``I believe that the majority of these cities are questioning why the largest city, Glendale, again is seeking this seat after they already had it and held it in the term prior,'' Spence said.

Najarian countered that he's a better choice than Spence, his only opponent.

``I think the qualities of someone from a big city make them more qualified to handle this job,'' he said. ``Because in a big city you deal with a lot of these transportation issues that they get at the MTA level on a daily level.''

The North County/San Fernando Valley sector committee will try again today to have at least seven representatives attend a meeting to vote on a nominee. If it fails to nominate either Najarian or Spence, the committee's next opportunity to vote would be the month after Roberts leaves office.

``The ... seat would just be sitting there vacant,'' Najarian said. ``And clearly that would be a loss for all the residents of our sector.''

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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