City Council Votes to Hold Up MTA Funds

Led by angry San Fernando Valley lawmakers, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to freeze $200 million in contributions to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority because of proposed delays to a long-sought Valley rail line.

The 9-2 vote--following nearly an hour of often-emotional debate--blocks the payments until city and MTA officials rewrite a regional “recovery plan” to move up the start of construction of the east-west line across the Valley.

“The Valley feels like it’s been shafted,” said Valley Councilman Richard Alarcon.

But critics of the delay fear that it will jeopardize federal funding by sending Washington the message that the long-troubled MTA cannot get its act together.

Eastside Councilman Richard Alatorre, an MTA board member, voted against the delay, saying that Valley lawmakers are playing “chicken” with federal officials and could cost the entire region funding for transit projects.

“What you are saying is: ‘If I can’t have mine, I’m going to make sure you don’t get yours,’ ” he said.

The federal government, which is picking up a big share of the $6.1-billion subway tab, has demanded that the county transit agency get control of its finances and stop promising more than it can deliver.

Under consideration in the next two weeks is the MTA’s request for $100 million from Congress for subway extensions to North Hollywood and the Eastside.

The recovery plan, adopted by the MTA board last week to win Washington’s confidence in the transit agency, calls for pushing back the start of construction of the east-west Valley line from 2004 until 2007 or even 2011.

Councilman Mike Feuer, who represents parts of the Valley, led the motion to hold up the payments. He said the Valley suffers the biggest burden in the recovery plan.

“The plan subordinates the interests of transit-dependent Valley riders by pushing back the timeline for the Valley’s east-west line,” he said.

He added: “‘The burden on the table should be shared across the board.”

Feuer said he would like to see the start of construction of the Valley line moved to 2004, or 2007 at the latest. He added that he would like MTA officials to show that other projects in the region have been affected.

Feuer argued that the city is in its best bargaining position now because the MTA cannot move ahead with its recovery plan without the city’s $200 million.

In hopes of appeasing Alatorre, Feuer and others agreed to begin negotiations with the MTA immediately and return to the council Tuesday with an update on the discussions.

But Alatorre was not placated, saying that the MTA does not have the money to move up construction of the Valley line. He argued that the Valley project lags behind other rail projects, including a downtown Los Angeles-to-Pasadena rail line, because it took so long for Valley lawmakers and residents to agree on a route.

“They are still fighting in the Valley,” he said.

Councilwoman Rita Walters, who represents parts of South-Central Los Angeles, also voted against the delay, saying the Valley should not hold up the entire recovery plan.

The seven Valley council members were supported by council members Jackie Goldberg and Nate Holden, who said they also want to renegotiate the city’s contribution to ensure that the MTA adds more buses for low-income riders and adds transit programs for inner-city communities.

“I’m disappointed that this is coming out as a Valley vs. MTA issue,” Goldberg said.

An aide to Mayor Richard Riordan said the mayor recently met with Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the House transportation appropriations subcommittee, in hopes of getting adequate funding for the region.

But the mayor fears that the vote to delay payments “potentially could be bad” for the region’s rail plan, said Riordan’s transit aide, Jaime de la Vega.

“‘The mayor shares the concerns of the City Council members over the east-west Valley line, but we also think Los Angeles County needs a unified voice to maximize our chances of funding,” he said.

After the vote, the MTA’s acting chief executive officer, Linda Bohlinger, said she will study whether the start of construction of the Valley line can begin by at least 2007.

Bohlinger repeated her warnings that if the city does not come through with the $200 million, it would delay subway extensions to North Hollywood, the Eastside and Mid-City, and further push back the cross-Valley line.

She also insisted that the “pain was shared” by all regions except North Hollywood, where construction is underway on an extension of the subway.

“We need to convince the city that the rail recovery plan is real and reasonable,” she said.

Times staff writer Richard Simon contributed to this story.