Lindsay Sees No Wrong in City-Paid Publicity Drive for LANCER Project

City Councilman Gilbert Lindsay hotly defended Friday a proposal for the city to help fund a public relations campaign that will try to make the planned LANCER trash-to-energy plant in South-Central Los Angeles more palatable to a growing number of critics.

In an unusual display of public pique, Lindsay took the floor of the council chambers and accused a colleague, Zev Yaroslavsky, of making a “vicious attack” against him over the public funds involved.

The proposal for the city to spend $150,000 to pay eight “community information” representatives--selected by Lindsay--and $100,000 for related expenses is now being considered by two council committees:Lindsay’s Public Works Committee and the Finance and Revenue Committee chaired by Yaroslavsky.

When his panel reviewed the plan recently, Yaroslavsky questioned whether the city should finance a public relations drive and suggested that the proposal may be part of an effort by Lindsay to protect himself politically from opponents of the $235-million LANCER project.

Growing Opposition

The proposed LANCER plant, which would be located at 41st and Alameda streets in Lindsay’s South-Central district, has encountered growing opposition from community groups who lobbied the council successfully for an expanded environmental review. That report, which will investigate possible health hazards, is due in January.

But Thursday, Lindsay insisted that LANCER has widespread support and lashed Yaroslavsky for questioning the financing plan and impugning his integrity. “I don’t like it at all,” the veteran city councilman said, “and I intend to to do something about it.”

Seizing on a request by Yaroslavsky for a new field office, Lindsay voted in favor of the funds but not before calling the price tag extravagant. As his colleagues sat with pained expressions or studied indifference, Lindsay discarded the usual council decorum and, without naming him, promised Yaroslavsky: “You’re going to catch more hell than you ever did in your life.”

Yaroslavsky did not answer Lindsay on the council floor but later told reporters that Lindsay personally picked the people who will do the neighborhood public relations for LANCER without the benefit of a competitive process or selection procedure. “I will not be a party to that,” Yaroslavsky said. “When you ask for $150,000 in general reserve fund money, that’s when I get involved.”

The LANCER plant, which will be built by Ogden-Martin Systems Inc., is designed to burn 1,600 pounds of trash a day and alleviate the need for the city to develop additional garbage dumps.

Addressing Concerns

The public relations campaign, which has the backing of the city’s Bureau of Sanitation and the City Administrative Office, calls for Ogden-Martin to develop a program to deal with community concerns. Under the proposal, the company would pay $100,000 for “public information” consultants and the city would pay for the eight community representatives as well as for a LANCER video, newsletters, brochures and events.

According to the proposal, those expenditures would be repaid by proceeds from bond sales when LANCER is built.

Among the eight people recommended for the city-paid jobs, Lindsay said all were “knowledgeable people” but conceded that they were his political supporters. “You think I’m dumb enough to put enemies out there to work for me?” he answered incredulously when reporters asked him about his nominations.

Although Lindsay and other city officials said the public relations campaign is needed to correct misinformation about LANCER, Lois Medlock, a member of a South-Central Los Angeles citizens group fighting the city’s first proposed incinerator, disagreed.

“There is no misinformation. We know what we’re talking about,” she said. “They want to take public funds and make me pay for that campaign. And then they’ll dump garbage on us.”