Reyes says phone message gives panel a black eye

A Los Angeles City Council member apologized Wednesday to a handful of San Fernando Valley residents, saying a phone message left by a Planning Department employee -- suggesting the fix was in for a controversial Valley Village condominium project -- was not “business as usual” at City Hall.

Councilman Ed Reyes offered his “deepest apologies” one day after he heard a recording of a city planner who, thinking that he had called the 78-unit project’s developer, promised it would be approved “no matter what.”

“It gives us a black eye when you have that kind of contact, when you have a staff person making a statement before the committee even looks at the case,” said Reyes, whose Planning and Land Use Management Committee nevertheless recommended that the full council vote to approve the building.

The apology was not enough to reassure other council members, who moved Wednesday to postpone a vote on the project until next week. Councilman Richard Alarcon refused to cast a vote, saying he was concerned about the Planning Department mishap and lacked the information to make a decision.

“I’ve already made my decision that I don’t want to participate in this,” he said, moments before leaving the room.

City planner Jack Chiang mistakenly made the call last month to Van Nuys resident Marcelle Duncan, who filed a challenge to the Planning Commission’s approval of the condominium project. Duncan said developer Gary Schaffel had failed to address traffic and relocation payments to evicted tenants.

Thinking he had reached Schaffel, Chiang revealed that Duncan’s challenge had been filed, saying: “You will win the appeal, no matter what.”

Chiang offered his own apology Wednesday, saying in an interview that he was simply trying to defend the Planning Commission’s position on the project.

“Of course, I made an error. I made an inappropriate phone call, and that’s all I can say,” he added.

Still, Councilman Tony Cardenas said he saw no correlation between the phone call and the council’s vote on the project, which is planned for a stretch of Magnolia Boulevard.

“I really could care less about what that [city employee’s] opinion was about how we’re going to act,” he said.

david.zahniser@latimes.com