Public Election on Police Issues Unlikely in ’91 : Reforms: Only three council members back scheduling special vote before June, 1992. It may not be possible to hold balloting before Gates’ planned retirement.

Police Chief Daryl F. Gates’ announcement of a tentative retirement date eliminated one of the stumbling blocks to implementation of reforms recommended by the Christopher Commission, council members said Tuesday.

But even those council members who favor a special election on police reforms at the earliest possible date are now acknowledging it is unlikely that a measure can be placed on the ballot this year.

And though some of the most important proposed reforms concern the selection of a new chief of police, it may not be possible to put them before voters prior to Gates’ planned retirement in April, 1992, according to interviews with council members.

Only three members are now in favor of holding a special election prior to the regularly scheduled statewide elections in June, 1992. And while they initially wanted to hold the election in December, council members John Ferraro, Joel Wachs and Joy Picus are now looking at March, 1992, as a more realistic target.

“I think we should bite the bullet and make a decision,” said Wachs, one of the few members advocating a special election. “There’s no question we can do it, if we have the will to do it. . . . The ball is in the council’s court. It’s time to move ahead.”

But the 14 council members are still largely on the sidelines, choosing teams and sorting out the rules for how the city should go about implementing recommendations of the Christopher Commission.

The Christopher Commission detailed problems of racism, sexism, excessive force and management failures in the LAPD. The blue-ribbon panel recommended curbs on the power of the chief, shifts in department philosophy, changes in the training and discipline of officers, and the transition of power to a new chief.

Many of the proposed reforms, including term limits for the chief of police, require changes in the City Charter that must be approved by the voters. But first, the City Council must agree to put those changes on the ballot.

Council members remain sharply divided on whether they should put reform measure before the voters piecemeal to speed the process along, or take a comprehensive but more time-consuming approach, they said in interviews Tuesday.

They are also divided on the merits of some key recommendations--such as a term limit for the police chief--and are beginning to focus on the potential high financial costs of implementing reforms.

At least three City Council committees are holding hearings on various aspects of the Christopher Commission report and others will likely join the fray.

The council is also preparing to order more studies. On Tuesday, Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores requested that the city administrative officer prepare a report on the costs of implementing the police reforms urged by the Christopher Commission.

Many of the recommended changes are administrative in nature and could be implemented directly by the Police Commission.

On Tuesday, Acting Police Commission President Melanie Lomax said Gates had submitted a plan for implementing those Christopher Commission recommendations that could be put into effect immediately. Last week, Mayor Tom Bradley submitted a similar list of 38 changes that the Police Department could implement without voter or City Council approval.

“My reading of the chief’s plan of implementation is that it is infinitely compatible with the mayor’s request,” said Lomax. “It also appears to be, in subject matter and in tone, very compatible with our draft” of a plan for revamping the citizen complaint process, she said.

Lomax, who would not release the chief’s plan, said the commission would examine the document and make a final plan of implementation at next week’s meeting. The Police Department refused to release the plan, saying it was a draft.

At a City Council hearing on the Christopher Commission report Monday, Gates picked away at a number of key recommendations. While saying he generally embraced the commission’s recommendations, Gates spent two hours assuring the council that his department was already one of the most efficient and well-run in the nation.

Councilman Richard Alatorre, whose Public Safety Committee held the Monday hearing, said he wants a comprehensive package of reforms to go before the voters, hopefully in June, 1992.

Representing one faction of the council, Alatorre said, “I think a special election would be disastrous.”

At the other extreme, Councilwoman Picus said, “To appoint a new chief before we change the City Charter makes no sense.”

Some council members are undecided. Councilwoman Flores, who opposes a special election, added, “I’m not crazy about packaging (a comprehensive plan) either.”

As council members mulled the issues Tuesday, council President Ferraro said one thing is clear: “If we create too big of a controversy, (the public) will vote everything down.”