Hearing by L.A. Council Doesn’t Mean Listening

Claude Howell made his first trip to Los Angeles City Hall and left shaking his head, hoping never to return.

“I have never seen such a rude group of inconsiderate people,” the 73-year-old retired house painter said after enduring about 15 minutes of a City Council meeting last Friday. “They are jamming this down our throats.”

Howell and his neighbor, Jim Robertson, had traveled 25 miles to downtown Los Angeles to protest city plans to pave the alley behind their homes on the 1300 block of Santa Cruz Street in San Pedro. The city intends to charge each homeowner about $2,000 for the job, but Howell, who lives with his wife on a monthly Social Security check, said he and many of his neighbors cannot afford it.

The two men were looking for some help. What they got was an unexpected civics lesson--one that bared a side of city government neither of them knew existed.

A public hearing on the paving project--which includes three other nearby alleys--was the first item on the City Council agenda. Carrying a petition bearing the names of 21 of the 25 homeowners along their alley, the two men faced the expansive horseshoe-shaped council desk as Robertson read a statement outlining their objections.

A bit nervous, Robertson stumbled, skipping things he meant to say and repeating others. But as he looked up, he realized it did not really matter.

Nobody was listening.

Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who represents San Pedro, was in the Middle East on a trade mission for the city. Her seat was empty. Council President John Ferraro was leaning over the edge of the president’s platform talking to another city official. Councilman Richard Alatorre was reading, and Councilwoman Ruth Galanter was conferring with an aide.

Councilwoman Gloria Molina was talking with a group of visitors, and Councilman Gil Lindsay was so absorbed in a discussion behind his seat that Ferraro had to call him twice to vote on a motion to end the public hearing. In all, none of the 12 council members present allowed the two men to disrupt their business.

When Robertson finished, Lindsay, on Ferraro’s cue, recommended approval of the alley project. There was no discussion. The vote was 12-0. As the clerk read the next agenda item, Howell and Robertson, disheartened and walking slowly with eyes downcast, left the council chambers.

“I could have said that I have 20 tons of gold in the alley and I don’t want it touched, and nobody would have even known what I said,” Robertson, a retired plumber for the Harbor Department, said after the meeting. “This was all cut and dry before we even got up there.”

When told by a reporter about the experience, Bernie Evans, Flores’ chief deputy, responded, “That is a shame.” Evans said Flores tries to listen to speakers at council meetings--even those from other districts--but that council business often prevents members from being as attentive as they should.

“Sometimes they are working on other items,” Evans said. “It is one of the things in decorum that the council has to work on.”

As for the alley, Flores supports the paving project. After meeting with Robertson, Howell and several of their neighbors two years ago, Flores said paving would improve access to the alley, discourage littering and illegal dumping and eliminate mud and weeds. The residents have 10 years to pay the assessment, which she said was reasonable.

Howell, his voice sounding of defeat after the council meeting, said he and his neighbors will have to “do the best we can” to make the payments.

“The City Council was our last hope,” he said.