Acting Transit Chief Expected to Head MTA

With Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan squarely in his corner, acting transit chief Joseph E. Drew is expected to be named head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority with a mandate to put the troubled agency on a new course, sources say.

An MTA panel headed by Riordan will meet this morning to discuss dropping plans for a nationwide search for a new transit chief. A majority reportedly favors Drew to succeed ousted transit boss Franklin E. White--at least on a one-year trial basis.

“I’m prepared to vote to make Joe Drew the permanent CEO,� said Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre, a key committee member. “The sooner we move toward establishing some stability the better off we’re going to be.�

Drew has scored points with the influential mayor because of his like-minded can-do attitude and his commitment to improve the nation’s most crowded bus system--a pet project of Riordan’s.

“He says we can do an awful lot without more money, and I believe him,� said Riordan, who had complained about “paralysis by analysis� at the MTA under White. Drew this week brought in transit experts from around the country to help find ways to improve bus service.

His boosters say the decorated combat pilot is well suited for one of the toughest jobs in town--overseeing a highly political agency characterized by White as an out-of-control “money train.�

Once the full MTA board gives its expected approval next week, Drew will take over the nation’s second-largest transit agency with no prior experience in running a bus and rail network. His supporters say his strength is as a manager--just what the distressed agency needs.

Drew, 52, is a former Army career officer who once served under Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, then became Kern County chief administrator before joining the MTA last May as its No. 2 man. Unlike the cautious former transit chief who clashed with Riordan, Drew is a PR-minded positive thinker who is determined to turn around the agency’s battered image.

“I don’t call myself a CEO,� Drew said. “I call myself the CPS--chief problem solver.�

A transit lobbyist said: “I’ve been told that he served in Vietnam and did things that no normal person would do. If he took a job with the MTA, he’s still doing them.�

But Drew points out: “I love the challenge.�

And a challenge it will be. The MTA--which has a $3-billion budget, employs about 9,000 people and is bombarded by about as many lobbyists as ply their trade in Sacramento--has been plagued by controversy virtually since it was created three years ago.

The $5.8-billion subway--the region’s biggest public works project--has suffered a series of embarrassing setbacks. A bus riders’ group that has filed a suit accusing the MTA of discriminating against poor and minority bus riders is seeking to divert rail construction funds to bus operations.

Eric Mann, head of the Bus Riders Union, lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, said he remains a skeptic about Drew. Citing Drew’s support for construction of a billion-dollar downtown-to-Pasadena trolley--a project that the bus riders contend will siphon away money from bus service, he said, “I was disappointed by his opening move.�

But Drew insists that the agency can build the Pasadena line--a pet project of powerful MTA board member Alatorre--complete the subway and improve the bus system. He has been scrutinizing the MTA budget for savings and has led a more aggressive lobbying effort for funds in Sacramento and Washington.

Some, however, say Drew is “Neil Peterson reincarnated,� referring to the ambitious former L.A. transit executive accused of promising rail lines to his politician bosses’ districts that were never built because of lack of money.

“The test for Drew is whether he’s willing to blow the whistle when the agency is fiscally over its limits,� said state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica).

“It’s much too early to know to what extent Joe Drew has the ability to stand up to the board and say, ‘You can’t do this,’ � said one skeptic. “The CEO has to walk a fine line between doing what his board wants and what his board can afford.�

But one MTA board member sees Drew as an “activist kind of executive who has worked hard at improving the agency’s relations with the community and political leaders in Sacramento and Washington.�

Drew recently came out of his 26th-floor office atop the MTA’s new headquarters and spoke directly to a crowd of Hollywood Hills residents protesting the agency’s plans to build a shaft for the subway near their homes.

“The reason there’s a difference between a degree in public administration and a degree in business administration is that you don’t want government run exactly like a business,� Drew, who has a master’s in public administration from Cal State Bakersfield, told the group. “That’s where every decision is made in a back room and the public isn’t talked to.�

Drew also met with neighborhood groups and local officials involved in planning the Pasadena trolley. MTA planners had recommended dropping a transit station along the route to save money.

“The way Joe Drew dealt with it was much different than what we had seen in the past,� said Cynthia Kurtz, Pasadena director of public works and transportation. Drew restored the station to the plans, noting that the city had already spent funds preparing the site.

Drew has also been making surprise inspections at bus yards and even taking the wheel of an MTA bus--actions that impressed MTA board Chairman Larry Zarian.

County Supervisor and MTA board member Zev Yaroslavsky said he too was impressed by Drew’s efforts to change plans for tunneling through the mountains to reduce the impact on residents. “The bureaucrats below him resisted,� Yaroslavsky said. “He said, ‘Let’s just do it.’ �

Transit officials had talked about conducting a nationwide search for a new transit boss. But Drew’s boosters say it is important to act now to bring stability to the agency.

Drew currently earns $152,500 a year. His salary as CEO has yet to be determined.

Ex-transit chief White said in an interview this week, “Joe brought the skills and temperament I was looking for in a deputy. This job requires a lot of additional qualities, including most importantly a willingness to carry bad news. It’s a tough assignment under almost impossible conditions. I wish him well.�

As Kern County administrator, Drew helped guide the county through a budget crisis, officials there say. “He’s probably one of the most positive people I know,� Kern County Supervisor Ken Peterson said. “When he sets his mind to do something, he does it.�

During his 20-year Army career, Drew served two years of combat duty in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot, logging more than 1,000 combat hours. “It was trial by fire every day I flew,� he said. He was wounded twice.

Drew was also commander of an elite Army squad that trained but did not take part in the failed effort to rescue the American hostages in Iran. He served under Schwarzkopf in Alaska. “I had some tough-minded leadership role models to learn from,� he said. “I also learned a lot from the men and women right down at the bottom of the pyramid.�

After retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1981, Drew worked as director of airports, personnel director and administrative officer for Kern County.

* MORE SUBWAY SINKAGE: A Hollywood Freeway offramp has dropped three inches. B1

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Profile: Joseph E. Drew

Acting transit chief Drew is expected to win the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s top job.

* Born: Nov. 16, 1943

* Residence: Bunker Hill

* Education: Bachelor’s degree, Park College, Mo.; master’s degree, Cal State Bakersfield; Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government, Harvard.

* Career highlights: Retired from Army as a lieutenant colonel. Served as combat pilot in Vietnam. Kern County administrative officer. Appointed MTA deputy chief executive officer in May. Named interim CEO in December.

* Interests: Singing

* Family: Married with two sons, two stepdaughters and six grandchildren.

* Quote: “The reason there’s a difference between a degree in public administration and a degree in business administration is that you don’t want government run exactly like a business.�