CITY HALL ROUNDUP : Water use went down by 71%, but will they need 71% more grass seed?

SCORCHED EARTH: Torrance officials have discovered an astonishingly effective way to conserve water: Forget to turn on city sprinklers for, oh, six to eight weeks.

During March and April, the first two months of a city water conservation program, the Torrance government’s water use declined a startling 71% compared to the same period last year.

Officials couldn’t contain their glee, frequently boasting about the savings and planning a self-congratulatory press release. But then it was discovered that the cutback was an accident.

An employee of the city Water Department, it turns out, ordered that thousands of municipal sprinklers be shut off amid March’s heavy rains. Then he took a leave of absence because of a bad back. And no arrangements were made to turn the sprinklers back on.

The sprinklers stayed idle for six to eight weeks--long enough for city-owned lawns and grassy medians to wither, and for residents to flood Torrance officials with complaints about city greenery gone brown.

Said Park Services Administrator John Hoffman: “It was overkill, literally.”

BANK SHOT: Tax officials in Inglewood join Laker fans in hoping that Magic Johnson & Co. will take another run at the NBA title next year.

Last week, the City Council raised the admissions tax at the Forum and other city arenas and auditoriums for the first time in five years.

Previously, the levy was 45 cents on admission tickets priced under $10 and 55 cents a head for tickets over $10 (or way over $10, as in the Lakers’ case). The new rate is 56 cents for all admissions throughout the city.

Since a longer Laker season means more revenues for Inglewood, city bean-counters have an interest in Magic putting a stop to his retirement talk and native son Byron Scott finding the net.

POLEMICA DELLA PIAZZA: Look out, it’s another clash over aesthetics on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The question this time: Should trees be planted in the Italian-style Malaga Cove Plaza in Palos Verdes Estates?

Since 1987, homemaker Morynne Motley has been trying to muster support for the proposal. This summer, armed with endorsements from local architects, business owners and residents, she plans to take the issue to the city’s Planning Commission.

“It would bring some life to the place,” said Motley, noting that the plaza is used primarily as a parking lot. “It’s dead now.”

Some, however, consider trees an affront to the six-decade-old plaza, which features a King Neptune fountain and is bordered by offices and shops.

“I have never seen trees in a plaza in Italy,” said city resident Jean Burke, a veteran of more than half a dozen bicycle tours of Italy. “They may have shrubs and flowers, but if there were trees you might not be able to see the arches and the statuary.”

Said Motley: “That’s hogwash. This is not an Italian plaza, it’s a parking lot. If we can soften it and make it prettier, why not?”

LOUD AND PROUD: Community activist Herman Weinstein asked the Lawndale City Council for a plaque and 60 seconds of silence Thursday night to commemorate his status as the only citizen in city history to be ejected from the council chambers.

Weinstein, a real estate broker, doesn’t dispute that he was talking with others in the audience during a council budget workshop Tuesday night. He complains that council members violated his constitutional rights when they voted 4 to 1 to remove him. But their action, he says, “makes me very prominent.”

Voting against Weinstein’s removal Tuesday was Mayor Harold E. Hofmann, who noted it was “the first time in my life I’ve ever been on the (dissenting side of) a 4 to 1 vote.”

At Thursday’s council meeting, Weinstein got his moment of silence by incorporating it into the five minutes he was allowed for his comments. But silence also greeted his request for a plaque.

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

* Hermosa Beach: The rotating post of mayor rotated again, this time to Councilwoman Kathleen Midstokke. Assuming her new duties Tuesday, she gave thanks to her family for being there--particularly her parents, who arrived, unscathed, in a rental car after their own automobile was wrecked in a six-car pileup on the way to City Hall.

* Inglewood: The City Council approved an ordinance proposed by Councilman Garland Hardeman calling on Congress and President Bush to support the Civil Rights Act of 1991. The Democratic-backed act, which recently cleared the House of Representatives despite Bush’s opposition and is pending in the Senate, would provide relief to women and members of ethnic and racial minority groups who can show that they were the victims of job discrimination.

* Los Angeles: The City Council approved an agreement with the West Basin Municipal Water District calling for a massive project to recycle treated waste water from the Hyperion sewage treatment plant in Playa del Rey. The project eventually is to channel 62 million gallons of reclaimed water a day to a variety of water users, including South Bay parks, golf courses and industrial plants.

* Redondo Beach: At the first of several public hearings on the Redondo Beach budget, the City Council tentatively approved money for: a senior care program at the Anderson Park Senior Center; portable buildings that could be used for after-school child care at three local elementary schools; the city’s upcoming centennial celebration.

* Rolling Hills Estates: A special committee organized by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District recommended to the City Council on Tuesday that only cars carrying three students or more be permitted to park at the new Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. The committee has been studying ways to alleviate traffic and parking problems that are expected when the peninsula’s three high schools merge in September.

* Torrance: Police Chief Donald E. Nash ended weeks of speculation by announcing Wednesday that he will not return to work before his scheduled February, 1992, retirement. Nash, who underwent angioplasty in May to clear two clogged coronary arteries, will earn full salary until his February retirement by using a combination of industrial leave, sick time and vacation time.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

* Carson: City Council to hold a public hearing Tuesday on a proposed city budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The council will also consider an agreement granting Western Waste Industries an exclusive contract for commercial and industrial trash pickup and an amendment to the Municipal Code concerning rent control for mobile home spaces.

* El Segundo: City Council on Monday to begin interviewing prospective appointees to former Councilman Jim Clutter’s seat. Clutter, who has been battling cancer for a year, resigned June 4. The appointee will serve the 10 months remaining on his term.

* Lomita: City Council to consider a water rationing plan Monday that would penalize residents and businesses that fail to trim their water use by 20%.

* Rancho Palos Verdes: Residents opposed to the construction of a resort hotel at Long Point are to plead their case Tuesday before City Council members. The residents are hoping the council will overturn an earlier Planning Commission ruling that would allow a 450-room hotel to be built on the site.

* Redondo Beach: City Council to hear an appeal Tuesday by homeowners Jackie and Herman Bose to overturn the Preservation Commission’s approval of a historical district in the 300 block of North Gertruda Avenue. The district is being sought by a group of local preservationists who oppose the Boses’ remodeling plans for their turn-of-the-century bungalow.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Carson: 6 p.m. Tuesday, 701 E. Carson St., Carson; 830-7600. Televised at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 26 (Continental Cablevision) and repeated June 26.

El Segundo: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 350 Main St., El Segundo; 322-4670. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon) and repeated at noon Wednesday.

Lawndale: 7 p.m. Thursday, 14717 Burin Ave., Lawndale; 973-4321. Televised live on Channel 60 and repeated several times during the week.

Lomita: 7 p.m. Monday, 24300 Narbonne Ave., Lomita; 325-7170. No cable telecasts.

Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles. In San Pedro, 548-7637; in Wilmington, 548-7586; in Harbor City/Harbor Gateway, 548-7664; in Westchester, 641-4717. Televised live on Channel 35; meetings repeated individually at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and collectively on Sunday starting at 10 a.m.

Manhattan Beach: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1400 Highland Ave., Manhattan Beach; 545-5621. Televised on Channel 3 (MultiVision) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Rancho Palos Verdes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Hesse Park, 29201 Hawthorne Blvd., Rancho Palos Verdes; 377-0360. Televised live on Channel 3; repeated at 7:30 p.m. June 27.

Redondo Beach: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, 415 Diamond St., Redondo Beach; 372-1171. Televised live on Channel 8 (Century); repeated at 3 p.m. Wednesday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

Torrance: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, 3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance; 618-5880. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon), and replayed at 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.