CITY HALL ROUNDUP : Hawthorne mayor is exercising a politician’s right to change her mind.

CHANGED HER MIND: Two weeks after denying rumors that she was eyeing a City Council seat, Hawthorne Mayor Betty Ainsworth has announced that she will be running for the post after all.

The three-term mayor said she changed her mind out of concern for the success of a redevelopment project planned for the Imperial Highway area in the city’s north end.

“It takes a dedicated council who can work together to get a redevelopment project through,” Ainsworth said Friday. “They are not easy and oftentimes, if you bring in a new member of the City Council, they don’t understand what all has gone on before.”

Is it possible she could have yet another change of heart before Friday’s filing deadline? “I hope not,” Ainsworth said.

WATER UPDATE: Torrance officials this spring were jubilant that city government’s water use had plummeted 71% during the first two months of a new city water conservation program. But their elation was short-lived. The dramatic drop-off was due in part to an unintended shutdown of thousands of water sprinklers used to keep grass green in city parks and on street medians.

Now, the latest numbers are in, and the celebration can resume. Water use is still down, even with those sprinklers going. The city used 50% less water from mid-May to mid-July than it did in the same months last year. That amounted to 17.2 millions of gallons of water, most of it targeted for city parks.

A mild summer could be helping keep water use down, said Chuck Schaich, a city Water Department analyst.

The city may have gone “a little overboard” with its earlier cutbacks, Schaich added. “Some of the parks were getting a little brown. . . . They’re fine-tuning this a little bit better.”

COURT WATCH: The NAACP and AFL-CIO came out strongly against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas last week. Now the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, headed by Inglewood Councilman Daniel Tabor, is taking its turn mulling over President Bush’s controversial replacement for retiring Justice Thurgood Marshall.

The group’s board of directors met at an Inglewood hotel July 27 to debate Thomas’ court record and plans to come out with a recommendation on his appointment early this week.

Tabor said he did not know which way the board, who represent the group’s 4,000 members, is leaning on Thomas. But he said the black jurist’s record on cities’ rights, as opposed to civil rights, would be the focus of discussion.

LIBRARY SHOPPING: Redondo Beach at last has closed the book on the debate over a temporary home for the volumes that have been sitting inside the city’s quake-damaged central library at Veterans Park.

City Council members last week agreed to sign a three-year, $1.3-million lease for 18,000 square feet of space in the newly built Redondo Shores strip mall.

The central library’s 100,000 items--including books, videotapes, records, compact discs, cassette tapes, magazines and newspapers--should be in place for a grand opening some time in October, said Shari L. Petresky, director of library services.

Patrons who check out the new location in the 400 block of north Pacific Coast Highway will be able to run a variety of errands at once.

“We’ll be right in there with Blockbuster Video and a yogurt store,” Petresky said.

City officials had planned to move the library into prefabricated buildings in Veterans Park while refurbishing work was done on the historic old library. But damage from the June 28 Sierra Madre earthquake forced the early closure of the old building and a hasty conclusion to arguments over where to move the facility.

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Lawndale: In an effort to control overbuilding while new standards are prepared, the City Council imposed a 45-day urgency ordinance that reduces allowable apartment and condominium density by nearly one-third, to 41 units from 58 per acre. Under the measure, the Planning Commission also serves as a design review board. The council may act to extend the limits for a full year.

Palos Verdes: The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy hired its first employee, landscape architect and environmental planner Mike Michel of Los Angeles, as executive director. The nonprofit, nonpolitical conservancy works to preserve open space and wildlife.

Rolling Hills Estates: The Palos Verdes Library District decided last week to use $16 million in bond proceeds to double the size of the city’s library. The bonds will be sold through Lehman Bros.

Torrance: Two representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice met with city officials Wednesday as part of what City Atty. Kenneth L. Nelson said is a preliminary investigation of city hiring of women and minorities. A Justice Department spokesman declined comment.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Carson: The City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday on residential trash collection rates for 1991-92; the council will also discuss a proposed rate increase for the Carson Circuit bus service. The council meets at 6 p.m. at 701 E. Carson St. For information, call 830-7600. Televised at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 26 (Continental Cablevision) and repeated the next Wednesday.

El Segundo: The City Council will consider asking for proposals to develop a plan for keeping existing businesses and attracting new ones. The effort would be aimed at diversifying the city’s economic base while weaning it from its heavy reliance on the aerospace industry, which has declined in recent years. The council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday, 350 Main St. For information, call 322-4670. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon) and repeated at noon Wednesday.

Lawndale: The City Council will consider approval of an anti-graffiti ordinance dealing with the sale of spray paint and removal of graffiti from private property. The council meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, 14717 Burin Ave. For information, call 973-4321. Televised live on Channel 60 and repeated several times during the week.

Redondo Beach: The Harbor Commission will stage a public hearing Monday on the proposed reconstruction of the horseshoe-shaped pier that was damaged by fire in 1988. 7 p.m. in City Council chambers, 415 Diamond St. For information, call 372-1171.

Torrance: Eight exchange students from Torrance’s sister city of Kashiwa, Japan, will arrive Tuesday for a three-week stay in the city. Their itinerary includes trips to Universal Studios, Knott’s Berry Farm, a Dodgers game and--for a change of pace--a tour of Torrance city facilities.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Avalon: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 209 Metropole. For information, call 510-0220. Televised live on Channel 3 (Catalina Cable) and repeated Saturday morning.

Inglewood: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1 Manchester Blvd. For information, call 412-5280. No cable telecast.

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

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

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

Rancho Palos Verdes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Hesse Park, 29201 Hawthorne Blvd. For information, call 377-0360. Televised live on Channel 3; repeated at 7:30 p.m. the next Tuesday.

Redondo Beach: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, 415 Diamond St. For information, call 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. For information, call 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.