11 Cities Will Fund Transit Services Post

A search will begin soon for a full-time staff person to help improve transit services for 11 area cities served by the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

Ten cities have accepted Glendale’s invitation to join the program and help fund the position, said Steve Adams, assistant city manager of Glendale, which proposed the idea.

Joining the program with Glendale are Calabasas, Lancaster, Hidden Hills, Burbank, La Canada Flintridge, Malibu, Palmdale, San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Westlake Village.

The city of Agoura Hills is studying the idea and will respond later, Adams said.

The cities will pitch in to pay the costs of the employee, Adams said. Glendale will administer the position and provide office space and support staff.

Glendale City Councilman Larry Zarian, who is also on the MTA’s board of directors, proposed the idea in a letter to the cities.

“The volume and variety of technical issues facing the MTA board requires an extensive amount of research, analysis, investigation and preparation prior to meetings,” Zarian wrote. “We believe that hiring a full-time staff person for our corridor is essential to adequately represent our interests to the MTA.”

The MTA cannot afford to hire such a person because of cutbacks amounting to $120 million for fiscal 1994-95, said Andrea Greene, a spokeswoman for the MTA.

The staff person, who would oversee transit matters for the 11 cities, would

be paid about $50,000 annually plus benefits, Zarian said.

“I’m hoping this person would be an ombudsman and get us the transportation we need,” said Calabasas Mayor Karyn Foley. “I would like this person to be a kind of lobbyist.”

Calabasas needs to have its city’s bus line extended past the Valley Circle interchange, where it now ends, she said. Extended service also is needed in Calabasas Park.

Cities will pay into the program based on their population, Zarian said.