CITY HALL ROUNDUP : Redondo police earn a commendation--for their uniforms.

SHARPER IMAGE: Suspects arrested in Redondo Beach may find themselves underdressed for the occasion. That’s because the arresting officer is sporting the cutting edge in law enforcement fashion.

Redondo Beach officers--who wear a blue, wool-blend uniform--have won an honorable mention in the 1991 Best Dressed Police Department competition sponsored by the National Assn. of Uniform Manufacturers and Distributors.

“They are just about the only department in the area that replaces uniforms when they get ripped or soiled,” said Carmen Likens, manager of Louis the Tailor in Torrance.

Likens should know. Officers in Torrance, Gardena, Inglewood, Hawthorne and Los Angeles shop in her uniform store. Whereas Redondo Beach supplies new uniforms periodically, other departments give their officers uniform allowances. And Likens knows --based on the major repair jobs she has done--that the money is not always spent on new threads.

COVER-UP: If Junior gets caught spray-painting graffiti in Gardena, Mom and Dad may be punished too.

City officials said last week that they will begin charging parents for cleaning up graffiti their children scrawl on city property. The charges will help offset the city’s $150,000-a- year graffiti eradication budget.

The new policy began after three 14-year-olds and an 18-year-old were arrested for an August graffiti rampage that Police Lt. Gary Cherry, a 27-year veteran, called “the worst I’ve seen.” The group, which was holding a “tagging” competition, left marks on walls, trees, curbs, sidewalks and telephone poles.

The 18-year-old, Roger Kaneko, will have to pay the city $5,000. City officials said the parents of the three unidentified juveniles will receive similar bills in the mail.

TRY, TRY AGAIN: For years, Assemblyman Richard Floyd has attempted to help Hawthorne gain control of a trash-strewn strip of surplus Caltrans property so it could be converted into a park.

And for years, the Gardena Democrat has failed, foiled by state transportation officials who say he and Hawthorne are trying to force them to sell the 4.7-acre strip between Glasgow Place and the San Diego Freeway to the city for a price below its market value.

Floyd had high hopes he would succeed this year after Pete Wilson replaced George Deukmejian as governor. Filing a bill in May that would compel the state to sell the land as open space, Floyd said: “I am confident that the new Administration up here in Sacramento will see things differently from their predecessors.”

His confidence was misplaced.

Wilson, like Deukmejian before him, vetoed the proposal. In a veto message Wednesday, Wilson said: “This would result in a loss of funds which would be available for other highway projects. Moreover, this bill is an unwarranted intrusion upon the prerogatives of the Executive Branch.”

DIVERTING DIRECTORIES: The environmentally aware among us stack and recycle our newspapers, separate our aluminums from our glass and plastics, and maybe even water our houseplants with our leftover bathwater. But what about those bulky telephone books that companies keep dropping off at our front doors?

In a new program, Western Waste and GTE California will provide residents and businesses with a list of recycling locations with the next delivery of telephone directories.

Redondo Beach residents can leave their books at the curb with other recyclables. Those in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Lawndale, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates and Torrance must drop the books off at selected locations.

Officials expect the plan to divert an estimated 50,000 South Bay directories from landfills.

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Hermosa Beach: Kenneth Meersand, the city’s interim prosecutor for the last two months, has been named to the post permanently. Meersand has worked as a prosecutor in Torrance and Redondo Beach.

Los Angeles: A planning committee granted a waiver to San Pedro’s building moratorium that would allow the construction of a $2.5-million apartment complex for the chronically ill called New Hope Courtyard. The City Council must vote on the matter.

Palos Verdes Estates: The City Council introduced an ordinance that would permit the city to get rid of eyesores such as graffiti, overgrown vegetation, rubbish and abandoned vehicles by billing homeowners. If adopted at the Oct. 8 council meeting, the law will become effective Nov. 7.

Torrance: The city Environmental Review Board has accepted an environmental impact report that recommends closing Via Valmonte, a move that is expected to divert thousands of vehicles onto Hawthorne Boulevard and Palos Verdes Drive North. Palos Verdes Estates and Rolling Hills Estates oppose the closure, which must be considered by the Torrance City Council.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Carson: The City Council, reacting to protests from the Samoan community, will consider renaming Winfield Scott Park after Harry T. Foisia, a longtime city worker who died last December; The meeting is at 6 p.m. Tuesday, 701 E. Carson St.; 830-7600. Televised at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 26 (Continental Cablevision) and repeated the next Wednesday.

Inglewood: The City Council will consider a redistricting plan that will substantially alter the boundaries of Councilman Garland Hardeman’s District 4. The proposal would give Councilman Daniel Tabor the Forum, Hollywood Park, Centinela Hospital Medical Center and the Carlton Square housing development, currently part of District 4. The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1 Manchester Blvd.; 412-5280. No cable telecast.

Redondo Beach: The City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday on proposed entertainment permits for two beachfront restaurants, Charlie Brown’s and Chillers. The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, 415 Diamond St.; 372-1171. Televised live on Channel 8 (Century); repeated at 3 p.m. Wednesday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

OTHER COUNCIL MEETINGS THIS WEEK

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

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

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

Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 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.; 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.; 377-0360. Televised live on Channel 3; repeated at 7:30 p.m. the following Tuesday.

Torrance: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, 3031 Torrance Blvd.; 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.