Q & A: CANDIDATES’ VIEWS ON THE ISSUES : L. A. City Council: 2nd District

Top Priorities

Q. If elected to the City Council, what would be your three top priorities for legislative action?

Lynch: Crimes, drugs, water shortage. Crimes and drugs are on the increase. The city appears to be inept at developing community-based programs to substantially reduce these figures. Councilman Wachs has no program to help provide active programs with citizen involvement to attack the problems in Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Sunland-Tujunga and other areas of the district.

Paterson: Roll back the 40% yearly City Council pay raise. Place the pay raise before the voters as a separate ballot measure in the next election. Expand the next reapportionment process to overhaul the City Charter to address the division of power between the mayor and council. Make the council stronger. Require the city to develop, prepare and adopt a growth-management plan within one year that addresses all the growth-inducing impacts including illegal immigration, infrastructure capacity, expansion plans and requirements for projected growth levels.

Wachs: A safer city. A cleaner city. A better quality of life, especially for seniors.

Timely Services

Q. Do you think that Los Angeles city government delivers services in a timely, cost-effective manner?

Lynch: No! The city is so bogged down on the delivery systems that many employees are leaving their jobs for outside industry.

Paterson: No. There should be a report on the state of the city that details the effectiveness of timely and cost-effective city services, along with recommendations for improvements. Priorities are misdirected.

Wachs: Not as cost-effective as it could be.

Improvements Needed

Q. What departments do you think need substantial improvements?

Lynch: Building and Safety, Public Works and City Planning.

Paterson: The Planning, and Building and Safety departments should be a top priority for audit and reorganization.

Wachs: Direct contact with the public needs to be improved in most departments.

Fair Share

Q. Do you think that the San Fernando Valley receives its fair share of city services? If not, which ones? What would you do to remedy the situation?

Lynch: Perhaps the other districts do, but the 2nd seems to have a growing problem with clean streets and street-repair services.

Paterson: The budget, except for capital improvements, does not clearly detail how city services are allocated or budgeted to the Valley. As councilman, I will determine how those monies are allocated, determine if they are fairly allocated and, if not, take council action to establish an allocation and monitoring system.

Wachs: Fighting for a fairer share for the Valley has always been one of my top priorities.

Services Rated

Q. Give your opinions of the following city services on a four-point scale (excellent, satisfactory, needs improvement, very poor) .

Lynch: Fire protection, excellent. Libraries, satisfactory. Paramedic service, needs improvement. Parks, needs improvement. Planning and zoning, needs improvement. Police protection, needs improvement. Street repair, needs improvement. Trash collection, needs improvement.

Paterson: All city services need improvement. The growth of the city has put added demands on all these services. Services can be improved by better allocation of existing resources and manpower without additional taxes or user fee increases.

Wachs: Fire protection, excellent. Libraries, satisfactory. Paramedic services, satisfactory. Parks, needs improvement. Planning and zoning, needs improvement. Police protection, excellent. Street repair, needs improvement. Trash collection, excellent.

New District

Q. The San Fernando Valley now includes all of four council districts and parts of four others. In the upcoming city reapportionment, would you support creating a fifth all-Valley district, even if that means reducing the number of council members who represent all or part of the Valley?

Lynch: Not without eliminating the obvious gerrymandering of districts.

Paterson: I support expanding the City Council to at least 30 seats, which can be done without spending significant additional city funds. We have 35 community planning areas, why not 30 or 35 council seats? Expanding the council can double the number of Valley seats and give each community district more control.

Wachs: Yes. I crossed out “all or part” in the above question because it’s impossible for a fifth all-Valley district to reduce the four we already have! It can only reduce those that are split between the Valley and the rest of the city.

New Taxes

Q. The city’s chief budget officer has projected a $150-million deficit in the coming year. What existing or new taxes would you rely on to raise all or part of this money?

Lynch: Citizens are being taxed enough. There are other avenues that should first be considered.

Paterson: None. New taxes are the old political way to solve financial management problems.

Wachs: I would continue to emphasize increased productivity and efficiency.

City Deficit

Q. How would you address the deficit?

Lynch: There are other tax bases such as hotel-motel, liquor, cigarettes, entertainment, etc. But, first, the entire budget should be examined on the basis of needs and priorities. User fees may also have to be examined.

Paterson: I would cut and reallocate as necessary to deliver a balanced budget and one limited to the current rate of inflation growth. Tax increment monies should be freed and used as needed to beef up city services. In the future, by taking control of certain agencies from the mayor, those departments can be made to contribute more to the general fund.

Wachs: Same as above.

Proposition 13 Reform

Q. Would you support the repeal or modification of property tax limits contained in Proposition 13 , enacted by voters in 1978?

Lynch: No! I don’t think we should sell out that citizen-supported provision.

Paterson: No. It would create a real estate nightmare and could force thousands out of their homes if they were to be taxed at current market value.

Wachs: Certainly not repeal. As for modifications, I’d have to see what’s proposed.

Aiding Contributors

Q. In the past, the City Council has considered enacting an ordinance that would bar members for one year from voting on matters that would directly benefit campaign contributors of $500 or more. Would you support the passage of such a law?

Lynch: Yes! I thought this was always the policy that had a lot of merit.

Paterson: No. Other approaches should be examined. It’s a loophole proposal. Everyone could contribute $499 and be exempt. Why $500? For example, in the 2nd District, many projects are on hold until after the election. It’s conceivable that the project interests could contribute to a $499 a plate fund-raiser and raise over $100,000 and the council office could vote claiming no conflict.

Wachs: Yes. I am the originator of this ordinance.

Tax Disclosure

Q. Would you agree to make public your personal federal and state income tax returns at least a week prior to the election? If you have a business, would you make its tax filings public?

Lynch: As long as there was a demonstrated need to justify these disclosures.

Paterson: Yes. Under my two-term proposal, I would expand reporting requirements to include one before the election to office, filings while in office and the last filed after leaving office.

Wachs: Yes, if all other city elected officials and candidates for city office do the same.

Mandatory Disclosures

Q. Do you support recommendations by Mayor Tom Bradley’s ethics advisory panel for mandatory disclosures by elected officials of all their investments in real estate, the names of their stockbrokers, precise amounts invested in stocks and bonds, and the names of limited partners in investments?

Lynch: Only to a point that does not effectively reduce potential candidates.

Paterson: Yes. Until I can be convinced that these disclosures are an abuse of due process and an excessive invasion of privacy.

Wachs: Yes.

Disclosure Requirements

Q. Are you satisfied with the current disclosure requirements for elected officials as outlined by state law?

Lynch: There is still a lot of confusion. It still needs study and revision.

Paterson: No. All levels of government, including the state, should have more comprehensive disclosure requirements modeled after the city law, and should be adjusted to eliminate abuse of due process and excessive invasion of privacy problems now being identified.

Wachs: State disclosure law should be made as tough as the new city ethics disclosure law.

Term Limits

Q. Do you support a two-term limit for elected city officials in light of the state limits enacted by voters in November?

Lynch: I support some term limitation.

Paterson: Yes. Two terms would work provided checks and balances are included, such as tighter financial disclosures to prevent the second-term official from becoming a lame-duck incumbent. The City Council already has embraced the concept of term limits by setting two different term limits for ethics commissioners under Charter H.

Wachs: I prefer to keep the good and throw out the bad.

Bradley Reelection

Q. If Mayor Bradley seeks a sixth term in 1993, will you support him?

Lynch: It would be foolish of him to do so. I think it would be in the best interest of the mayor and the city to not seek reelection, so I don’t believe I would, unless there’s no other reasonable choice.

Paterson: Not a relevant question to the 2nd Council District election and requires speculation about something that may or may not happen in 1993.

Wachs: Not answered.

Timely Services

Q. Do you believe that the residential recycling program the city is phasing in will effectively reduce the need for new trash-disposal sites?

Lynch: Unfortunately not. There needs to be more aggressive recycling.

Paterson: No. No question it will reduce the need, but not completely. The city’s growth management plan must address how future trash generation will be handled and where.

Wachs: It will help, but we also need to include commercial recycling and reduce the amount that goes into the waste stream.

Landfill Sites

Q. Should the city continue to seek new landfill sites?

Lynch: If they are out of the immediate residential areas and can help close those that are located adjacent to large residential areas.

Paterson: Yes. Depending on the needs determined by the development of a growth-management plan. The levels of future trash generation must be detailed out in such a plan. All environmentally sound alternatives have to be considered, including landfills.

Wachs: Not within the city.

Reducing Trash

Q. Should the city adopt drastic measures to reduce household trash, such as higher fees or laws on packaging?

Lynch: The city already has the beginning of a program to do this. I believe in the “carrot and the stick,” with emphasis on the carrot.

Paterson: No. It’s too early for extremes. We need to work cooperatively with the packaging industry to encourage recycling and to reduce the amount of unnecessary promotional packaging.

Wachs: I favor laws on packaging, but not higher fees.

Alternative Methods

Q. If you support an alternative method of trash disposal or reduction, what is it?

Lynch: Waste/energy systems where the waste is converted to energy and made available to power companies. Such facilities are already in central and Northern California.

Paterson: We should fully implement the current trash separation programs and evaluate their effectiveness while pursuing other environmentally sensitive options. We should expand local sorting stations and mulching centers and increase the frequency of special hazardous materials pickups.

Wachs: Full residential and commercial recycling, expanded markets for recyclables, increased deposit laws, tougher packing laws, composting, exploration of long-haul disposal.

School District

Q. Do you support proposed state legislation to create a separate San Fernando Valley school district?

Lynch: I believe in “economies of scale” as well as the opposite. The size of the school district does lend itself to separating out the San Fernando Valley into a new district.

Paterson: This question has no relevancy to the 2nd District election. The City Council has no direct role in managing the school district. Ask me this question if I run for a school board seat.

Wachs: Only if it will improve the quality of education.

Population Growth

Q. In making decisions on land use, should it be the overall guiding policy of city government officials to discourage population growth in Los Angeles?

Lynch: The city cannot limit population growth, but it can limit development unless the basic service systems are provided. This includes water, sewer, roads, electricity, schools, police and fire.

Paterson: No. Until the city establishes a policy “to discourage population growth,” decisions on land uses in the 2nd District should be guided by the philosophies laid out in the Valley Village Specific Plan. The plan examines how a project fits into its surroundings, examines its burdens and benefits, and provides a forum through a neighborhood planning board to identify the problems, propose solutions and resolve conflicts by holding up the building permit.

Wachs: We should discourage growth where it adversely affects our quality of life. I’m proud of my record in limiting growth and protecting our neighborhoods long before it was fashionable. Studio City, Valley Village, Van Nuys, Sunland-Tujunga, Sun Valley, Lake View Terrace etc. do not have the kind of overdevelopment you see in Encino, Century City and Westwood.

Growth Policy

Q. If not, is there a point at which you would support such a policy?

Lynch: Care should be taken with regard to basic constitutional rights lest we hire Pinkerton guards to patrol our borders. It must make sense.

Paterson: Zoning codes and building regulations can limit or expand population growth in any neighborhood. You start with the 35 community plans and you develop with community planning boards the building regulations required to control or expand density.

Wachs: See above question.

Traffic Mitigation

Q. In general, do you believe the so-called traffic mitigation measures (turn lanes, etc.) that are imposed on developers of large projects effectively reduce the traffic impact of those projects?

Lynch: Yes. This is part of the Highways and Freeways Element of the city General Plan to create efficient traffic flow through the region.

Paterson: Yes. Most of these measures are adopted as the result of environmental impact reports which require project mitigations. I would continue to support the inclusion of such requirements for major projects unless demonstrated to be ineffective.

Wachs: They help but are not sufficient.

Hiring Consultants

Q. Do you favor changes in the city’s policy that allows developers to select and hire the consultants who evaluate the environmental impact of their proposed projects? What changes would you propose?

Lynch: I have testified before the city Planning Commission on the staff recommendations to substantially change the environmental impact reporting process. The Planning Department would select a list of consultants who then would bid on these projects without the developer being directly involved.

Paterson: Yes. We should adopt the Santa Monica “wheel” plan where projects are assigned out as the wheel of approved firms turns. The city would randomly select the firms from the wheel. The developer would have to use these firms and play them through the city for their services. Under the present process, the consultant is hired to deliver a project, not to be completely objective.

Wachs: Yes. The city should select qualified, independent consultants, but the developer should pay for it.

Open Space Measure

Q. Do you support the $297-million city bond measure on the June ballot to pay for a number of recreational and cultural projects, as well as for the acquisition of open space?

Lynch: Yes. The city is in need of these facilities for the enjoyment of its citizens.

Paterson: I haven’t seen the measure language, but I support the concept of acquisition of open spaces, not only in the mountains but in the flatlands. We must continue working to keep the wildlife corridors open.

Wachs: Yes. There will be a lot of good projects for the Valley.

Street Barriers

Q. In June, permanent steel barriers were installed on streets in a Sepulveda neighborhood to reduce drug dealing. Do you think that this is an effective way to reduce crime?

Lynch: This is just a small stopgap measure. Much more needs to be done. We must involve community people in “town hall” meetings where their meaningful participation is essential to solve this dilemma.

Paterson: No. It’s a press-making gimmick when you need to look like you are doing something about crime. Where was the council office when the problem started to develop and why was it neglected for so long before such a drastic measure had to be taken?

Wachs: Yes, because they’ve helped, especially east of Sepulveda Boulevard where they’re semi-permanent. But they’re not a panacea.

Redevelopment Zone

Q. Do you support the creation of a redevelopment zone, giving the city power to seize large parcels of land through eminent domain, as a way to stimulate development on Van Nuys Boulevard near the Civic Center?

Lynch: Yes. As long as the redevelopment agency is under more strict control of the mayor/council.

Paterson: No, unless the community supports such an action, and I believe it was proposed some years ago and rejected. Downtown Van Nuys should regenerate on its own, using a new concept of redevelopment law, allowing for the creation of joint venture development with different treatment of tax increment money.

Wachs: No.

Revitalizing Van Nuys

Q. What other steps would you support to revitalize the downtown Van Nuys commercial district?

Lynch: Initiate Commercial Area Revitalization Effort programs with the business community so that they can contribute to and benefit from this effort.

Paterson: Relocation of additional city support services from downtown to simulate both public and private construction.

Wachs: Continue to work with the Van Nuys Chamber of Commerce and Van Nuys Economic Development Center. Also, good planning and zoning can create incentives for quality revitalization such as we’ve begun on the eastern part of Ventura Boulevard between Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Universal City.

Jet Ban

Q. Do you support banning jet planes at Van Nuys Airport to reduce noise?

Lynch: Not easy to answer. As jets become quieter or patterns controlled, may offer solution. Must meet performance standards for the community.

Paterson: The courts have ruled you cannot ban the use of jets at airports. The 2nd District wraps around Burbank Airport and impacts a substantially larger population area in the district than Van Nuys Airport. I support a limit on noisy jets at Van Nuys, concurrent with adoption of similar private jet noise limits at Burbank to avoid shifting the noisy private jets to Burbank. The issue at Van Nuys is frequency, just as it is at Burbank, so we have to talk about growth management, not just limits on din.

Wachs: I support a ban on all regularly scheduled commercial jets, and a nighttime ban on all flights, including jets.

Campaign Spending

Q. How much money do you expect to spend on this campaign?

Lynch: Hard to tell. Incumbents have all the edge even under the city’s Political Reform Act. Contributors are afraid of retribution by the incumbent.

Paterson: It’s not how much money I spend, but how effectively I spend the money I have, to win . . . and I am running to win.

Wachs: It depends on how much my opponents spend and how badly they distort my record!

CONTENDERS

Peter A. Lynch, 60, of Sun Valley is a planning and zoning consultant. He was a Democratic candidate for the 29th Congressional District seat in 1962 and is active with Sunland-Tujunga Police Support Council, Foothill Alliance of Concerned Citizens and the Engineers and Architects Assn. Lynch has served as president of the Alhambra School Advisory Board and has published the “History of Planning in Los Angeles” for the American Society of Planning Officials. He is a graduate of John Carroll University in Ohio and Ohio State University ad has done graduate work in planning at USC.

Tom Paterson, 56, of North Hollywood is a corporate transportation manager and buyer. He has served as president of the North Hollywood Homeowners Assn., is the founding and current president of the Valley Village Homeowners Assn. and served as a member of the North Hollywood Redevelopment Advisory Committee and is chairman of the legislative and legal committee of the East Valley Airport Impacted Communities Coalition. Paterson is the co-founder and organizer of the Coalition of Freeway Residents and the citizens committee to draft a growth management plan for the Valley Village portion of North Hollywood.

Joel Wachs, 52, of Studio City, the incumbent, was elected to the City Council in 1971. He served for six years as the council’s president and was chairman of the Revenue and Taxation, Governmental Operations, and Intergovernmental Relations committees. Wachs was Mayor Bradley’s appointee to the Santa Monica Mountains Comprehensive Planning Commission, is an advocate of preserving the environment and is a strong supporter of the arts and of senior citizens programs. An attorney, Wachs was graduated from UCLA and Harvard Law School. He has lived in the Los Angeles area since childhood.