Budget Has $21 Million for Valley Projects

The $49.4-billion state budget, which won final legislative approval Thursday, includes at least $21 million for legislative pet projects in the San Fernando Valley area, ranging from improving commuter rail service to establishing a day-care facility for the children of government workers.

Lawmakers expressed hope that a portion of the $140 million in additional mental health funds in the spending plan could be channeled to Los Angeles County to reopen the East San Fernando Valley Mental Health Center in North Hollywood and to keep other facilities from shutting their doors.

The Senate gave final approval to the budget on a vote of 34-3, after the Assembly on Wednesday approved it by a 66-3 margin. Gov. George Deukmejian is expected to act on the budget sometime next week.

As the only Valley lawmaker on the six-member legislative budget conference committee, which in recent days has met to hammer out the budget, Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Tarzana) championed funds for a variety of projects. A smiling Robbins on Thursday sported a button that read: “I didn’t die, I was in budget conference.”

Possible Political Edge

Robbins’ role on the committee, on which he has served previously, was seen in part by colleagues as a politically savvy way for the veteran lawmaker to enhance his campaign if he decides to run for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Robbins has been raising funds to run for a supervisorial seat that does not yet exist, hoping that a federal lawsuit that has challenged the five-member board’s makeup will force an expansion of the panel.

The veteran lawmaker conceded that his “ability to fight for San Fernando Valley issues would be the platform on which I would run” if a Valley seat on the board was created.

Despite party differences, Republican Assemblywoman Marian W. La Follette of Northridge acknowledged that it’s “a real plus for the area” to have Democrat Robbins on the budget conference committee. Said La Follette: “It just seems to me that he does represent his district very actively and maybe he has in mind if he wants to run for some office at some other time . . . he’d be able to point to what he’s been able to accomplish.”

After the Senate debate, Robbins said his top Valley priority in the budget was $10.1 million to pave the way for as many as three commuter trains a day from Simi Valley to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. Currently, one Amtrak train a day serves commuters between Santa Barbara and downtown.

As a way to reduce auto congestion, Robbins and Sen. Ed Davis (R-Chatsworth) tucked into the budget language urging the state Department of Transportation to establish a second Amtrak train between Simi Valley and downtown. A large slice of the rail funds are earmarked to improve tracks, including building a siding near the General Motors plant in Van Nuys.

Valley area lawmakers also sought additional funds for mental health programs. Besides closing the East Valley Mental Health Center, the county has proposed curtailing a number of other mental health services in the Valley, including a crisis counseling center in Van Nuys.

Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Los Angeles), whose district includes part of the Valley, said the additional funds “should enable the North Hollywood center to reopen. . . . There’s literally nowhere for these mentally ill people to go if they’re in a life-threatening crisis.”

While Friedman termed the budget “a substantial improvement” over what Deukmejian sent to lawmakers in January, he expressed fear that the governor will “blue-pencil” important spending items.

Among the funds set aside in the budget are:

* $500,000 to restore the 12-acre Hansen Dam lake. The money, sought by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), would be used to dredge the lake and remove silt.

* $800,000 to renovate a county-owned facility at the Van Nuys Civic Center for a child-care facility for the children of city, county and state employees.

* $800,000 in seed money to the Valley Fair to develop trails, buildings and other facilities at an off-highway vehicle park at Hungry Valley near Gorman. A spokeswoman for Robbins said the Valley Fair hopes to stage an annual off-highway vehicle event there beginning in the spring of 1991.

* $1.8 million for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to buy land in the Santa Clarita Woodlands and the Santa Susana Mountains.

* $300,000 for additional parking at Los Encinos State Park in Encino.

* $876,600 for the 51-acre undeveloped Santa Clarita Valley Sports Complex, including picnic facilities, landscaping and a parking lot.

In addition, there were several appropriations for Cal State Northridge, including $2 million for a master plan for an education center in Ventura, $819,000 for plans for the Business Administration-Economics Building and $1.3 million for a Science Building addition.

RELATED STORY: Part I, Page 3