U.S. PROBE THREATENED ON SUBWAY : BERMAN SEES RED OVER BIDS.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

U.S. Rep. Howard Berman threatened a federal investigation Friday if the MTA board awards a $63 million subway contract to a consortium that was ranked last by a panel of experts who evaluated three bids for the job.

``I have heard no plausible, much less compelling, argument for overturning the evaluation of the experts,'' said Berman, D-Mission Hills. ``If the MTA board does so, then I will ask for a thorough federal investigation of MTA management practices and specifically this contract procedure.''

Berman and fellow Democratic U.S. Rep. Esteban Torres - two of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's biggest backers in Congress - warned that the agency could endanger federal funding for rail projects in North Hollywood and elsewhere if it appears political favoritism rather than technical expertise guides the choice.

``This would be a terrible and perhaps fatal mistake,'' Berman said.

Controversy erupted last week after MTA Chief Executive Officer Joseph Drew overrode the recommendation of a seven-member experts panel and leapfrogged the third-ranked team, Metro East Consultants led by O'Brien Kreitzberg Inc. of Encino, over two higher-rated partnerships.

The three bidders are competing for a $63 million contract to provide construction management on the $980 million project to extend the Metro Red Line subway into East Los Angeles.

Torres, into whose Pico Rivera-based district the east-side line would extend, said the maneuvering around the controversial contract ``sends a bad signal to other cities and transit districts who say, `Yeah, I can use the money.' Every city has politics, but there comes a point when you have to follow the process.''

A key MTA panel rejected Drew's recommendation Thursday, voting 3-1 with one abstention to approve the expert panel's choice. But the matter will come before the full MTA board Wednesday when City Councilman Richard Alatorre, a powerful MTA board member, is expected to make a strong play for approval of MEC.

``I support Mr. Drew's decision,'' Alatorre said in a statement released Friday. ``MEC was ranked the best-qualified company two (sic) months ago, and it is still the best qualified.''

Alatorre was referring to a previous evaluation of the bids last spring by MTA officials that ranked MEC first. That evaluation was thrown out by Drew under pressure from the MTA board because it was seriously flawed.

A panel of seven outside experts then was impaneled to do the review, which concluded that Jacobs Engineering Group of Pasadena should be ranked first, and Bechtel Infrastructure Corp. in second place. MEC came in third.

However this week, Drew said the top-ranked team, Jacobs Engineering, was already too busy overseeing subway tunneling through the Hollywood Hills to handle the east-side project also.

Drew also threw out the final portion of the expert panel's ranking process, a ``round-table'' discussion designed to determine consensus rankings, that put Bechtel second and MEC third.

Drew said that final round gave no good reason for ranking Bechtel second and recommended MEC get the job.

Critics charged that Drew's decision appeared to be politically motivated, because of close personal and political ties between Alatorre and top executives of many of MEC's participating companies.

``I don't question Joe Drew's honesty,'' said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. ``I do believe he has been pressured on this and has succumbed to the pressure.''

Alatorre denied the charge in his statement.

``I in no way influenced Joseph Drew in his recommendation of MEC,'' his statement said. ``Joseph Drew's track record shows that he is a man of principle.''

Drew declined comment Friday through a spokesman, who said he was considering a number of factors that had arisen Thursday and Friday, including Berman's comments.

Alatorre also welcomed any investigation Berman might initiate.

``Nothing improper has taken place and there is nothing to hide,'' Alatorre said.

Mayor Richard Riordan, an MTA board member who also appointed Alatorre and two others, issued a brief statement Friday saying he had not decided how to vote on the contract, but ``welcomed tough decision making by the CEO to do the job for which he was hired.''

``My determination will depend on whether the CEO's recommendation is reasoned, technologically appropriate and fair, and whether it reflects real-time experience with these contractors,'' Riordan said. ``I am currently reviewing all the relevant documents on this matter to understand the CEO's rationale for making this recommendation.''

Dennis Martinez, an O'Brien Kreitzberg vice president, said that as a matter of policy the company would not comment until after the contract was awarded and the procurement process complete.

If Berman does seek a federal investigation, he said, it could be conducted by Congress' General Accounting Office or the Inspector General's Office of the U.S. Department of Transportation.