Beset by bickering board members and under attack by state, local and federal officials, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is facing the threat of a major overhaul that would change the makeup of its 13-member governing board.

Long under fire for construction problems on the Metro Rail subway, the MTA board is now being forced to defend its spending priorities. Last week, the Los Angeles City Council voted to withhold $200 million in funds to the MTA over its decision to sidetrack an East-West rail line for the San Fernando Valley.

“I think the future of the MTA at this point is in the balance. The next year or two is critical to whether it continues in its current form,” said Assemblyman Steven T. Kuykendall, R-Long Beach, the author of one of two bills currently in the Legislature that would re-configure the make-up of the MTA board.

Kuykendall and others said last week that the MTA has several serious problems that could jeopardize not only the confidence of taxpayers who have twice approved sales tax increases to pay for the MTA’s public transit projects but which could also jeopardize federal and state funds:

– The agency has been without a permanent chief executive officer since December, when Joseph Drew resigned after less than a year on the job. He said that political infighting on the board made it impossible for him to go on. The last person tapped as Drew’s successor, Bechtel Corp. executive Theodore Weigle Jr., turned down the post.

– Certain MTA board members particularly the five L.A. County supervisors have let their political interests come before their commitment to a quality regional rail system, according to Kuykendall and others, who say that such parochialism has damaged development of an overall system.

– Bus riders are increasingly complaining that they have been neglected by MTA board members, who they say are more interested in building a flashy subway system than serving those in the county that use public transportation.

Those and other criticisms have led a group of Sacramento lawmakers to craft legislation to make fundamental changes in the MTA, including two bills one by Kuykendall, and one by state Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles that would shrink the size of the MTA board and change its make-up.

Assembly Bill 1481 which Kuykendall is carrying for L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, a member of the MTA board would reduce the size of the board from 13 to 9 voting members.

Perhaps more significantly, the board would change from one composed primarily of elected officials to one of appointed officials.

“It’s very simple and it’s very straightforward on what it attempts to do,” Kuykendall said, adding that not having high-profile, elected officials on the board would keep their decisions less political and more professional.

Riordan spokesman Steve Sugerman said that the mayor supports the bill because he believes the MTA can only be successful if it can come to a consensus on decisions, rather than making choices that benefit one geographical area. “He feels that an appointed board would be more able to do that than a board of elected officials,” Sugerman said.

Polanco’s bill, Senate Bill 567, would also reduce the size of the MTA board, but only by two voting members, and would also reduce the power of both the L.A. mayor and the county Board of Supervisors.

But the Board of Supervisors has voted to oppose both reformation measures, arguing that if any of the five supervisors lost a voice on the MTA board, there could be areas in the county that are not represented.

“The Legislature created this mess, and some of the bills up there could make it even messier,” said Supervisor Don Knabe, adding that the only MTA bill he supports is one by Assemblyman Kevin Murray, D-Culver City. That bill would require a four-year term for the MTA’s CEO, and eliminate an allowance for alternates for MTA board members.

“I think (the board) should be smaller that’s why I support the elimination of alternates,” Knabe said.

There are differing opinions on whether a reformation of the MTA board is the answer to the agency’s troubles. Some say that a much more drastic change is needed if the MTA board is to be effective.

Chris Mathis, organizer for the Bus Riders Union, an activist group representing MTA bus riders, said that the union does not support any board composed of directors appointed by elected officials.

“We don’t like any proposal that provides insulation from elected officials. So to create a layer of appointees that Riordan can hide behind, that the Board of Supervisors can hide behind, we don’t agree with that,” Mathis said.

Mathis said that he would support having an elected, full-time board run the transit agency. That way, he said, the members of the board would have to answer to the voters when they make decisions that benefit one group over another, such as subway riders over bus riders.

“There’s got to be direct accountability of the people making those decisions to an electorate,” Mathis said.

Others believe that a reorganization of the board would have very little impact. The only way the MTA can solve its problems, they say, is if its board members make a fundamental change toward the way the organization is run.

“You’ve got to have professionals that look at the big picture and not fear reprimand or retribution,” said MTA Board President Larry Zarian, adding that the MTA needs to come up with one solid plan for public transit development and follow that plan.

“I believe that no legislation nor reorganization is going to work unless we change our attitudes. We have to change parochialisms, we have to have a board that looks at the whole picture, not at a single picture,” Zarian said. “As long as there’s this pull and tug in separate directions, it’s going to be difficult to manage the organization.”

The board’s existing members know what needs to be done to make the agency run efficiently and effectively, Zarian said, but have been unwilling to do it. “My adage is everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die. Everyone knows what needs to be done, but no one wants to give up their power.”

U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, said that the MTA could have trouble receiving funding in Washington, D.C., unless it begins to solve some of its internal problems.

“I do know that until they get their act together, it’s going to be very hard for them to try to get projects funded out of Washington,” McKeon said.

The MTA this year has faced a particularly tough challenge in Washington, where it is looking for $100 million in federal funding far more than it has received in past years. Federal money is being used to pay for about half of the MTA’s subway project.

Responding to demands from Congress that existing projects are finished before funding for new ones is requested, the MTA was forced earlier this month to adopt a “recovery plan” in an attempt to win back Washington’s confidence in the agency. But the plan backfired locally, drawing opposition from Valley groups and the City Council for its plan to delay construction on the East-West Valley line from its original start date of 2004 until at least 2011.

McKeon said that while be doesn’t believe federal MTA funds are in immediate jeopardy, he does think that future funds could be affected if members of Congress see continued problems within the MTA’s board.

“When you get a committee that’s up in the arms fighting each other, why give them the money? Because they’re either not going to use it or not use it wisely,” McKeon said.

Added Zarian: “I see some dark days unless we open our eyes and realize the rest of the nation is looking to our funding as well.”