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Council OKs Proposals for June 4 Ballot : Elections: ‘Graffiti tax’ on spray paint and bond measure for parks are among items to be decided. Charter amendment would allow incapacitated officials to be replaced.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to place an array of proposals before the voters June 4, including a “graffiti prevention tax” on aerosol paint cans, a $298.8-million bond measure for parks and a City Charter amendment to permit the replacement of incapacitated elected officials.

The council also tentatively approved a proposal that would give it greater control over the city’s independent boards and commissions, but Mayor Tom Bradley is expected to veto the measure in an attempt to keep it off the ballot.

Last year, Bradley vetoed a similar ballot measure, calling it a “naked power grab” that would increase the influence of campaign contributors and allow the council to “grab control of millions of dollars in contracts now awarded by citizen commissions.”

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The council revived the proposal recently after the Community Redevelopment Agency’s board of commissioners approved a $1.7-million severance package for outgoing administrator John Tuite. In a separate action Tuesday, the council approved an ordinance giving itself greater control over the CRA; Bradley is expected to sign it in a compromise worked out with the council.

If Bradley vetoes the broader charter amendment affecting all the city’s independent boards and commissions, the council could override him. The vote to place the measure on the ballot Tuesday was 11 to 2, with Councilman Michael Woo and Richard Alatorre dissenting. Ten votes are necessary to override a veto by the mayor.

The broader measure would permit the council to review decisions of the city’s independent agencies on a case-by-case basis. It would affect the airport, harbor, library and recreation and parks departments, the Board of Zoning Appeals and Department of Water and Power, all of which are governed by panels appointed by Bradley.

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Under the proposal, the council would have 10 days to request a review of any board action, which would become final if the council failed to reverse it within 45 days.

The council also voted to hold a special election June 4 to fill the 1st District council seat being vacated by Gloria Molina, who was elected last week to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

The other ballot measures approved by the council Tuesday were:

* The graffiti prevention tax, a levy of 10 cents per can on the retail sale of aerosol spray-paint containers and 5 cents on the retail sale of felt-tipped markers or other marking instruments. The money is to be used to pay for the removal and prevention of graffiti.

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* General obligation bonds totaling $298.8 million to fund recreational and cultural facilities throughout the city. The money would pay for the acquisition and improvement of senior citizen centers, purchase of land for open space, improvements at the Los Angeles Zoo, the Griffith Observatory and other projects. The measure is modeled after Los Angeles County’s Proposition B, an $816-million bond measure that proposed a potpourri of recreational and cultural approvements, but was defeated last November.

* A charter amendment to permit the replacement of elected officials. Prompted by the lingering illness of the late Councilman Gilbert Lindsay, the measure would call for an automatic hearing before a judge if a council member, the mayor, controller or city attorney is incapacitated for 90 days. The court would have to determine whether there was “reasonable cause” to believe that the elected official would be unable to perform his or her duties for the remainder of the term.

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