Mayor fumbles MTA Clout

A bill that would reduce Los Angeles’ influence on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board sailed through a legislative committee Tuesday after nobody from L.A. City Hall showed up to oppose it, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. Senate Bill 1507 calls for Los Angeles to give one of its four seats on the 14-member board to the South Bay cities that are also part of the MTA system. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa chairs the MTA board and has said transportation is one of the top priorities of his administration. But a spokesman for the mayor could not explain why there was no representative at the hearing or why city officials had not previously made their position known.

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