W. Hollywood May Vote on Center in ’89

With the prospect of a November ballot initiative to decide the fate of West Hollywood’s proposed $25-million civic center all but eliminated, City Councilman Steve Schulte said Wednesday that he will push for a special election next year.

“People have the right to debate fully and vote on an issue, such as this one, especially when you’re talking about the biggest capital improvements project we’ve ever done,” he said.

Opponents of the civic center proposal said last month that they had enough signatures to place on the next regular city ballot--in April, 1990--an initiative aimed at preventing the complex from being built in West Hollywood Park.

Upon presenting the 2,806 signatures, Tom Larkin, co-chairman of the Save Our Park Alliance, called on the City Council to place the initiative on the November general election ballot instead. Only 2,066 valid signatures are needed to qualify it for the 1990 ballot.

However, City Clerk Mary Tyson said that even if the council--all of whom, except for Schulte, have expressed support for the civic center plan--expressed interest in calling for an early vote, it is too late to certify the signatures in time for the November ballot.

Tyson said Wednesday that the signatures would have to be certified before Friday to meet the first of several deadlines for the November ballot, and she predicted it would be “probably another two weeks” before that could be done.