LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL: THE 1991 RACES : Building a Quality City Is a Balancing Act : Environmental and economic concerns dictate the need to integrate new jobs and recreation with housing.

Running a metropolis such as ours requires a delicate balancing act. It demands a vision much beyond the next day, month or year. That special foresight also requires seeing the city as a whole.

We members of the City Council do have our own constituencies, but we cannot, and must not, ignore the rest of the city. After all, in the end, it all comes together, like a picture taking shape from jigsaw-puzzle pieces; in other words, there must be a perfect fit for our 15 council districts to function as a viable entity and modern city.

Los Angeles has become a multinational city with a diverse ethnicity, and will continue to attract new residents from the rapidly shrinking globe. That’s inevitable. What we must do is ensure that our growth is orderly, planned.

During the past two or three decades, urban planning experts have lectured us on the virtues of orderly growth, citing the mistakes of the past. Unfortunately, economics have always dictated our course of action. Now time is running out.

That is where planned growth with comprehensive environmental safeguards comes into the picture. Simply put, we must preserve and promote the quality of life in our communities.

We must equate new housing with employment opportunities, so that we do not have to drive long distances to work, contributing to freeway gridlock and air pollution. Unchecked residential growth in our neighboring communities of Simi Valley, Palmdale, Lancaster and Santa Clarita must teach us that lesson, at least.

It is not easy to preach about balanced growth and environmental protection without focusing on the Porter Ranch issue in my district. After all, my opponent made it the single campaign issue during the recent primary, while clouding the whole balanced-growth subject with distortions. She can no longer hide behind Porter Ranch.

So let us look at Porter Ranch briefly. My opponent in the upcoming June election has continued her brainwashing tactics to brand the recently adopted “specific plan” as a “project” and “development.” Of course, neither is true.

The Porter Ranch “specific plan” is just that; it provides a blueprint for a balanced future development, making provisions for housing, jobs, city services, schools, streets and freeway expansion.

It is far from being a done deal, since two dozen separate tract maps must be approved for it during the next 20 or so years.

Without the safeguards provided in this or any other land-use plan, we probably would have wound up with a bunch of hodgepodge developments, an asphalt jungle.

Often in an environment fueled by political rhetoric it becomes quite difficult for a politician to get the message across without distortions provided by a variety of individuals or groups with vested interests and personal agendas.

Again, this has been the case with my opponent. Luckily, the voters will have the opportunity to compare two philosophies. One is an ultra-liberal, a Jesse Jackson delegate to the 1984 Democratic convention and a school board member with a terrible record who has called for Police Chief Daryl Gates’ resignation. On the other hand, I am very proud of my strong law-enforcement support, my anti-crime stand and leadership in the Neighborhood Watch program.

Whatever a public official’s actions or thoughts, they all contribute to the kind of quality of life we will provide for ourselves; they are all part of the jigsaw puzzle. Parks, bikeways, horse trails and recreational facilities are key elements of this equation of shaping our city.

My actions of the past decade demonstrate my deep commitment to environmental protection.

The 1,200-acre Chatsworth Reservoir will continue to be an open space under its new designation of “nature preserve”; the beautiful rock formations on Topanga Canyon Boulevard are now officially Stoney Point Park; the Southern Pacific lumber-yard on Devonshire Street soon will become a passenger rail station; the city portion of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill will close in September; annexation of a hillside and canyons along the Ventura County line is proceeding--and this is just a partial list.

Balanced growth with environmental safeguards--that’s where I will continue to make the difference. We must preserve our community’s economic well-being while ensuring the quality of life. As I said, it is a tricky balancing act. I am totally committed to its success.

Four seats will be contested in the June 4 City Council runoff election. Today, the two candidates for the 12th District speak out on the issues.

LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 12

AT A GLANCE Population 1990: 216,000 Racial / ethnic mix White (non-Latino): 71% Latino: 14% Asian: 12% Black: 3% Annual income Median household: $42,000 Household distribution Less than $15,000: 13.5% $15,000 - $24,999: 13.7% $25,000 - $34,999: 14.4% $35,000 - $49,999: 20.6% $50,000 - $74,999: 23.2% $75,000 - $99,999: 7.0% $100,000 +: 7.5% SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau, City of Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Department and Times statistical analysis by Maureen Lyons.