STATE MAY TIE MTA LOAN TO RESTRUCTURING.

Byline: Paul Hefner Daily News Sacramento Bureau

As lawmakers continue to hash out terms of a state bailout of the MTA, some say ousting the politicians from the agency's board of directors should be part of the price tag.

With the Metropolitan Transportation Authority coming hat in hand for a loan to fund part of its rail recovery plan, some state officials are suggesting tying the payout to a board overhaul.

San Fernando Valley attorney David Fleming, a member of the California Transportation Commission, is among the leading advocates of the idea.

``I think now if there's going to be any solution to this, it has to include a restructuring of the MTA,'' Fleming said. ``We cannot have a bunch of politicians - each trying to grab something for their own constituency - having oversight of this huge, very important organization on a part-time basis. It just doesn't work.''

The MTA's plan calls for the state commission to lend the authority $54 million to keep construction of a rail line to Pasadena on schedule.

In addition, agency officials are negotiating with lawmakers representing the Valley and other areas to increase the loan amount. The extra money would help cover design work for an east-west Valley rail line and other projects left out of the original plan.

But Fleming said the MTA's poor track record has cost the agency too much credibility to allow a state bailout that leaves the current MTA board intact.

``My sense among members of the commission, as well as Sen. (Quentin) Kopp (I-South San Francisco) and others is they're just not about to roll over and provide more money unless they see changes are in the works in the structure of the MTA,'' Fleming said.

The agency's current 14-member board includes all five county supervisors, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, three members appointed by him, four members selected by smaller cities around the county and one nonvoting member appointed by the governor.

MTA against big changes

Though several bills proposing changes to the board are advancing through the Legislature, the MTA is against any wholesale revisions.

``We feel the current configuration is appropriate,'' said MTA spokeswoman Mary Ann Maskery.

But there's a growing consensus in Sacramento that it's not.

A bill by Assemblyman Steve Kuykendall, R-Long Beach, to shrink the board's membership and replace the politicians with appointees sailed through the Assembly on a vote of 62-6. A rival measure by Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, to tilt the board's membership away from county supervisors won approval in the Senate.

State transportation commissioners are skeptical of the board's composition as well, said commission Chief Deputy Director Pete Hathaway.

``I think the general sentiment is that the current board is ineffective and that the problem goes beyond the personalities involved,'' Hathaway said. ``The feeling is, even if you change the personalities, the board probably would still be ineffective.''

Kuykendall hadn't studied the loan proposal, but said he considered the request a lever to push for his restructuring plan.

``That's clearly a tool we should be using,'' he said.

Bill would change board

Kuykendall's bill calls for cutting the board's membership to nine, with three members each appointed by county supervisors, representatives for small cities and the mayor of Los Angeles.

Fleming likes the idea, seeing it as a chance to tap the talent available among the city's retired business executives.

``We need people with no axes to grind, honest brokers,'' he said.

But others were quick to reject the idea.

``The Kuykendall bill is terribly flawed,'' said Rocky Rushing, chief of staff for Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Los Angeles. ``It creates exactly the kind of shadow government Richard Riordan wants to see. You've got appointed board members, where the appointing party wants to pull the strings but take none of the responsibility.''

Hayden in the past has carried legislation to make the MTA board an elective office. He's now carrying a bill to bar board members from accepting campaign contributions from MTA contractors, and he's considering amendments to place the agency in receivership, Rushing said.

Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Sheila Kuehl, D-Encino, said taking elected officials out of the mix increases the risk of influence peddling among board members rather than lessening it.

``It may be broken, and it may need to be fixed, but the fix is not to remove elected people from it,'' Kuehl said.

MTA officials wouldn't comment on the suggestion to link a restructuring to the agency's recovery plan. But lawmakers backing the MTA loan were against the idea.

Polanco said linking the issues might weaken support for both ideas.

``I think they are two independent actions,'' he said. ``Let them float on their own merit. I think there has been an abundance of evidence crying out for restructuring of the board without the recovery plan being an issue.''

An aide to Assemblyman Jack Scott, D-Pasadena, who is carrying legislation to authorize the state loan, also doesn't want to see the issues linked.

``I don't see any urgency, need or necessity to connect that issue to this issue,'' said Scott Wetch, Scott's chief of staff. ``That hasn't been part of the discussions.''

Instead, backers of the plan have focused on trying to alleviate the concerns of lawmakers who feel their communities haven't gotten a fair share of funding for their projects.

More discussions planned

Fleming met Friday with Assemblyman Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, to discuss the negotiations. More discussions were planned over the weekend and early this week, officials said.

Even Fleming is hopeful some compromise can be reached.

``Everyone realizes we can't just turn our backs and walk away,'' Fleming said.

But beyond money for design of an east-west rail line across the San Fernando Valley, the plan should include an overall look at the area's transportation needs, he said.

``A rail line going from Warner Center to downtown Los Angeles is not going to solve more than 2 percent of the real problems in the Valley,'' Fleming said.

And the debate over the recovery plan is an ideal time to examine the transit agency itself, he said.

``I think right now there is a great deal of leverage for restructuring,'' he said. ``We're the stewards of the state's money.''