Council Votes $3 Million to Promote Recycling

The Los Angeles City Council, while acknowledging the city is facing a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, agreed Friday to spend more than $3 million on a public relations campaign promoting the city’s recycling program.

The council, after much discussion about the prudence of embarking on such a costly project when the city is likely to be in the red by the end of next June, voted 10 to 2 for the $3.2-million program for the next seven months.

Dissenting were Councilmen Ernani Bernardi and Joel Wachs, who questioned the amount.

But Drew Sones, head of the city’s curbside recycling program, said the program is “a major change in the way public will handle their trash” and a high-profile public relations campaign is needed to inform residents about the new method of trash disposal. The city has already begun its recycling program in certain parts of the city and by 1992 all residential neighborhoods will be required to participate.