RTD Chief Plans to Stay in Driver’s Seat : Dyer Says Beleaguered Agency Is Making Progress on Problems

RTD General Manager John Dyer declared Wednesday that he intends to remain at the helm of the embattled transit district and asserted that “excellent progress” is being made in solving the agency’s variety of problems.

Speaking to a crowded press conference just before the RTD board’s regular meeting, a tense-looking Dyer responded to critics who have faulted his management for the continuing woes of the district. Most recently, County Supervisor Mike Antonovich told reporters that Dyer, whose salary was just boosted 5.3% to $119,000 by the RTD board, should consider resigning if the district’s performance does not improve soon.

“It is impossible to manage a system this large and complex without recurring problems,” Dyer said in a prepared statement. “The RTD does have problems and we are committed to solving them. . . . I do not intend to resign; nor do I believe that if I were to resign that that action would solve RTD’s problems.”

Despite the growing controversy over district practices, fueled most recently by reports of large travel and expense tabs run up by board members and top managers, Dyer insisted that “we have made excellent progress.” Among the improvements he cited were a toughened employee drug-testing policy that went into effect Monday, a new hiring policy adopted Wednesday intended to improve the quantity and quality of bus drivers, a recent reduction in bus driver absenteeism and a 33% drop in complaints about RTD service last month.

But Dyer was peppered with questions about travel and entertainment spending at the agency, which totaled about $270,000 for him and the board members since 1984, with many of the expenses not receipted or explained.

After questions were raised about trips he took at district expense to his hometown in Tennessee, Dyer said Wednesday that he has agreed to repay the district $301. Still, he generally defended the travel expenses, including a trip that a delegation of RTD board members and others took to Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Dyer has specifically defended the trip to Singapore on the grounds that board members got “to see physical construction” of a new subway system.

But a former official with the Singapore transit agency said board members did not show up for a tour of construction sites, including tunnel digging, that she arranged.

Becky Harper, a former public relations officer with the Singapore transit system, said she expected three or four board members, but only RTD Assistant General Manager Al Perdon and his wife showed up. “No one else wanted to go. . . . I thought that was why they were there,” she said.

Perdon recalled the situation differently, saying that board members were not expected to attend the tour. He said board members instead took a bus tour past some of the construction sites. RTD board member Gordana Swanson said the group toured a tunnel construction site in Hong Kong.

At its meeting, the RTD board tentatively approved tighter reporting requirements on their travel and expense statements. The new policy, expected to be given final approval next month, would take away RTD board members’ credit cards and place some limits on what may be spent for meals, hotels and air fares.

In another matter, the board postponed action on additional spending for Metro Rail lobbyists after some members raised questions about the role of a new lobbyist, George Pla.

Pla had been recommended for a $36,000-a-year contract by Dyer to work on state, local and federal legislative matters. Pla is a prominent Latino and Eastside political consultant. He is also a longtime friend of Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre.

The recommendation on Pla’s contract came just weeks after Alatorre made an unusual appearance before the RTD board, complaining that Latino businesses were not receiving an adequate share of Metro Rail contracts.

Alatorre, Dyer and Pla all denied that Pla’s contract was related to Alatorre’s protest.