Group Lists 77 Vehicles : Removal of Deserted Cars Sought

A San Fernando Valley organization of church and synagogue members Tuesday handed Los Angeles’ parking administrator a list of 77 cars abandoned near their homes and asked that the city promptly remove such vehicles from city streets.

About 50 members of the Valley Organized In Community Efforts group told Robert Yates, the city’s parking administrator, that abandoned cars left to rust and be stripped are harbingers of neighborhood decay and crime.

“It really does blight a neighborhood,” the Rev. Curtis Page, one of the organizers, said at the North Hollywood meeting. “Once an abandoned car is in place, it is not long before other cars are abandoned in the area.”

Page, pastor of Kirk O’ the Valley Presbyterian Church, said VOICE members found the abandoned cars listed “in their normal travel around the Valley.”

Repeated Calls

Many of the cars had been on the streets for weeks, despite repeated phone calls to the city from residents, VOICE members said.

Neighborhoods in Sun Valley have been particularly hard hit, said Tony O’Campo, a member of the group. He said that wrecking and dismantling businesses in the area seem to attract abandoned cars.

Yates said his department will remove all of the 77 cars on VOICE’s list that are determined to be abandoned. He conceded that the Valley has a large and growing problem with abandoned vehicles.

Yates noted that his department removes only 16% of the nearly 5,000 abandoned cars reported each month. The remaining cars are gone by the time investigators arrive or are removed after they are marked with a warning card that allows owners 72 hours to move them, he said. Yates said the city also receives thousands of calls a year about cars that turn out to be legally parked.

Many Calls Unfounded

“We have to go to so many calls that are unfounded that it impacts our ability to get to the true abandoned cars,” Yates said.

Yates said that his department, which impounds about 10,000 abandoned vehicles a year in the Valley, has upgraded computer equipment that will help speed investigations of abandoned-car complaints. He said residents will eventually be able call an 800 number to report abandoned cars to the city.

Yates agreed to report to VOICE members next month on what happens to the 77 cars and on when the 800 number will be installed.

The meeting with Yates was the first action taken by the two-month-old VOICE group, members said. The group plans to develop programs to help stop blatant drug dealing and liquor sales to minors and to work against problems ranging from gang crime to religious discrimination, members said.