Hey, Mr. Los Angeles Times transportation reporter Ari Bloomekatz:
Acting L.A. MTA Inspector General Ms. Karen Gorman is supposed to be on the hot trail of possible wrongdoers ensnared by the CBS/Titan bidding war scandal.
But that is not her official paying job at MTA. She is just the head of MTA’s Ethics Division. That is all she is paid for.
For the past five years, however, she has filled in, on a “temporary” basis, as I.G. while the MTA Board has left the position of Inspector General unfilled.
This situation is unprecedented throughout the state.
For two reasons, the MTA Board can’t simply appoint “acting” Inspector General Karen Gorman to the position she currently holds extra-legally.
First, it is unlawful in California to hold two paying public positions at the same time.
Secondly, Ms. Gorman does not meet the job qualifications contained in the MTA’s own RFQ (Request for Qualifications).
The unsuccessful nationwide search, which did not begin until about two years ago, appears to have sputtered out.
Therefore the unqualified-by-MTA’s-own-standards Ms. Gorman has been filling in, indefinitely, as the unpaid acting I.G. since 2007 while simultaneously performing her duties as head of MTA ethics.
As for Ethics…
The MTA’s Ethics Division has suffered greatly as a result of this extra-legal arrangement.
Neat trick, huh, Mr. Bloomekatz?
Who knows how many more years it will take to replace the previous I.G., William Waters, who abruptly submitted his resignation when Mayor Villaraigosa blocked one of his investigations?
This delay violates the California state legislation that created the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency.
Read the Times story of Jan. 18, 2011, by reporter Dan Weikel where County Supe Don Knabe promises an I.G. appointment by year’s end.
That was 20 months ago.
No Times followup story.
Why not
For the record, Mr. Bloomekatz, do you remember when you emailed me awhile back that you could find no record of Ms. Gorman’s arrest back for domestic violence after I made an inquiry?
Carving an Embarrassment
On another MTA front, isn’t that silly giant timepiece sculpture slated for unveiling on Sunday, Oct. 14, at the El Monte Bus Station, costing the County taxpayers about a million dollars? Who picked the artist anyhow?
The artist in question, Mr. Donald Lipski, is from out of town, way out of town, Philadelphia.
That is another reason to vote No on Measure J in November.
Fur is bound to fly today at the MTA Board meeting over the CBS outdoors contract.
Last Tuesday, the Times insulted Mr. Les Moonves, President and CEO of CBS, calling him a “bully” and a “bloviator” over his opposition to the Titan contract appeal that has been backed behind closed Mayoral doors by Mr. Villaraigosa.
Don’t forget, your main job, Mr. Bloomekatz, is to slant your reportage of today’s MTA Board meeting to please your boss, Davan Maharaj, and Mayor Villaraigosa.
Both are counting on you.
Nd you are counting on Antonio for your next job, as an MTA flack, the same way your onetime fellow Times reporter Mr. Steve Hymon counted on Mr. Villaraigosa to Hire him after Mr. Hymon’s years of faithfully slanting MTA news to suit the Mayor.
See ya shortly, Mr. Bloomekatz, unless of course you see me first.
Mr. Walsh may be contacted at hollywoodhighlands.org
