Cordoba Corp

A pair of experts with experience in the trenches of Los Angeles transit projects were selected Wednesday night as acting chief executives of a new agency created to finish building a light rail line to Pasadena. After meeting for more than an hour behind closed doors at Pasadena City Hall, the authority's board unanimously selected battle-hardened veteran John A. Dyer, former general manager of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, and Larry E.

When Ernst & Young trumpeted, "We Went Looking for the Best Entrepreneurs in Los Angeles," it didn't have to look far. Eight of the 11 winners of Ernst & Young's annual contest to select the area's hottest entrepreneurs are clients of either the accounting firm or the competition's co-sponsor Merrill Lynch or both. What's more, several losing contestants complained that the competition--which was jointly sponsored by Ernst & Young, Merrill Lynch, Inc.

A company owned by a former state official with close ties to Eastside Latino politicians won the multimillion-dollar contract Tuesday to operate a clearinghouse designed to purge non-minority "fronts" from the minority purchasing programs of California's public utilities. An advisory board of utility officials and minority group representatives awarded the contract by a 12-3 vote to Cordoba Corp. of Los Angeles, whose owner, George L. Pla, has been involved in repeated controversies over his work for public agencies and politicians.

Deco Utility Supply Corp., a minority-owned company, has been selling utility equipment to San Diego Gas & Electric for more than 10 years. But the firm remains a strong supporter of the utility's ongoing attempt to find more minority- and women-owned suppliers. When SDG&E supports locally owned business, "it is going to help the local businesses grow," said Deco President Mario Puga. "And that is good for the local economy."

Los Angeles officials may drop plans to pay up to $15 million to private firms to oversee the demolition of hundreds of buildings damaged in the earthquake, saying that city workers may be able to do the job for less. Mayor Richard Riordan called Friday for public employees to manage the work, putting a damper on what one official called a "feeding frenzy" by firms that are bidding for the work.

The controversial extension of the Los Angeles subway to the Eastside suffered a setback Wednesday when a Superior Court judge ruled that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's selection of a contractor to supervise the project's tunneling was "skewed by improper external pressure."

City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa is off to a fast start in raising money to finance his campaign to replace Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn. Villaraigosa's latest campaign contribution report, filed Wednesday, shows that he raised $653,255 in the 3 1/2 weeks after his first-place finish in the March 8 election. "It continues the strong momentum going into the runoff," said Ace Smith, Villaraigosa's campaign manager.

Businesses and commuters have lost a total of $5.8 billion this year because of traffic congestion in Orange and five other Southern California counties, a regional planning agency reported Thursday. That figure will rise to $55.4 billion a year by the year 2010, according to the study by the Southern California Assn. of Governments.

Times were so tough for demolition contractor Andrew Wingfield that for years he had no full-time employees and rented his trucks to other outfits. Then came last year's riots. Wingfield hauled in about $30,000 as one of about 50 small contractors who were paid $4.1 million by the government to raze dozens of businesses gutted after police officers were found not guilty in the first Rodney G. King beating trial.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's staff has recommended that a politically connected business team with a mixed record in government contracting work be awarded a lucrative contract to supervise subway construction on the Eastside.