Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today, Friday, June 3, 2011, named Jaime de la Vega to take over the troubled Department of Transportation and assigned two other employees to assess and review how the agency is operating. De la Vega, a deputy mayor, has been Villaraigosa's chief adviser on transportation issues. He was nominated to take over for Interim General Manager Amir Sedadi and has been running the agency since Rita Robinson's departure. (Photo courtesy of LA City Hall)
With the city Department of Transportation embroiled in controversy, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Friday named a top deputy to take over as its general manager.
Deputy Mayor Jaime de la Vega, who has been Villaraigosa's top transportation adviser, was nominated to head the department and partner with City Controller Wendy Greuel on a top-down audit of the agency.
"The first priority is to focus on the management of the department," said de la Vega, a Woodland Hills resident. "I have a sense there are very good, smart people there who are looking to see changes made that they can work more efficiently to get things done."
De la Vega's appointment, which is subject to City Council approval, is part of a larger effort to overhaul the department, which has been the subject of scathing audits and embarrassing headlines in recent weeks.
"Jaime is an experienced public policy leader and manager with extensive experience working in city government, reforming department operations and developing and implementing transportation projects at both the local and regional levels," Villaraigosa said.
De la Vega's new salary has yet to be set. The DOT has about 1,300 employees and an annual budget of $133 million.
Amir Sedadi, who has been interim general manager, will stay with the department as an assistant general manager, the mayor said. Sedadi has headed the agency since December, when longtime employee Rita Robinson left to take a job with Los Angeles County.
Villaraigosa also announced the temporary assignment of LAPD Cmdr. Michael Williams to assess the parking division.
Jimmy Price, the head of the parking and traffic enforcement bureau, is reportedly taking early retirement amid allegations of widespread misconduct among traffic officers.
Williams said he plans to take an objective look at all aspects of the operation.
"Every organization has a culture," Williams said. "My job is to go in and understand that culture, which can be good or bad."
Villaraigosa also designated Jim Abalos, who is director of Personnel Services Division, to reform DOT's human resources operation.
The DOT has been under intense scrutiny since an audit by Greuel found that it had failed to collect millions of dollars in parking fines. A separate report revealed the existence of Gold Card Desk that handled requests from elected officials to fix parking citations for constituents.
Meanwhile, a KNBC (Channel 4) news crew captured two on-duty traffic officers participating in an adult film and letting an actress in the film perform lewd acts in an DOT car.
Greuel, who had issued a subpoena for documents in a follow-up investigation of the Gold Card Desk, said she hoped de la Vega would help stabilize the department.
"I hope ... he will be able to tackle some of the serious problems my audits and recent investigations have uncovered," Greuel said.
"I am pleased he is embracing my call for transparency and accountability. We will be working together to conduct a department-wide management audit."
De la Vega, 41, previously was a transportation aide to former Mayor Richard Riordan and worked as budget director for former City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.
He holds a bachelor of arts degree in urban studies from California State University, Northridge, and a master's degree in urban studies from University of California, Los Angeles.
As deputy mayor to Villaraigosa, he served as liaison to DOT, as well as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Los Angeles World Airports. He also has been a voting alternate for the mayor on the Southern California Regional Rail Authority overseeing Metrolink.
Source: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18199490?source=rss
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