Picus’ Tale of City Politics Is Described as Typical

Councilwoman Joy Picus’ blunt admission in a court transcript that raw politics motivated and guided her in her fight against a proposed office complex in Warner Ridge startled City Hall observers--but few faulted her for responding to the political winds.

Indeed, said council members, homeowners leaders and developers Friday, Picus gave a faithful account of life at City Hall and few blamed her for the hard-nosed tactics she employed to battle the proposed project in Woodland Hills.

“It’s accurate,” said Benjamin M. Reznik, an attorney for major developers. “Most of the reaction I’m hearing is that of shock about how honest and forthright she’s being.”

Picus’ remarks were contained in a 1,750-page deposition that was taken as part of an upcoming lawsuit involving the Warner Ridge property.

“Ms. Picus did what she’s elected to do--represent her constituents,” said Howard Sunkin, one of City Hall’s highest-paid lobbyists and a principal in the political consulting firm of Cerrell & Associates.

“She was a street-fighter for her constituents. I wish there were more like her,” said Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn.

“She’d be damned if she didn’t listen to her constituents,” added Councilman Hal Bernson, chairman of the council’s Planning and Land-Use Management Committee.

In her deposition, Picus portrayed the planning process as driven by politics.

One of her major concerns, Picus testified, was to stay in tune with the wishes of her Woodland Hills constituents, who prevailed upon her to oppose a developer’s plan to build seven office towers at Warner Ridge.

Warner Ridge Associates, the real estate developer, is suing the city for $100 million over the City Council’s January, 1990, decision to zone the land for single-family houses.

Picus led the campaign to block the commercial project and to impose more restrictive zoning on the site.

Picus’ deposition also detailed how she tried to embarrass ex-councilman Robert Farrell, who is black, into reversing his support for Warner Ridge Associates’ project by saying that Johnson Wax Development Co., a partner in the project, was doing business in South Africa.

She described how she outwitted Mayor Tom Bradley, a Warner Ridge supporter, by having Councilman John Ferraro sign her plan allowing only single-family homes on the site while Bradley was out of town.

Ferraro signed the plan in his capacity as acting mayor.

Is Picus’ depiction of the political games played at City Hall faithful?

“I think it’s a fairly accurate portrayal,” said a political consultant for developers who asked that he not be identified. “It’s how the council acts in general. I wouldn’t just pick out Picus.”

Others found the deposition troubling.

“It looks Nixonian to be threatening people,” said one top city official.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, was referring to Picus’ testimony that she warned Warner Ridge partner Jack Spound that if he released the unfavorable results of a poll during her 1989 reelection bid, he would be “chopped liver” and would not get any other of his projects approved at City Hall.

Others indicated displeasure with how planning decisions are now made at City Hall, while stopping short of faulting Picus’ own performance on the Warner Ridge issue.

Councilman Michael Woo said it is time for the city to remove some of the politics from land-use decisions.

“Somehow the planning process has to be made more separate from pure politics,” Woo said. “I think the Planning Commission and the Planning Department should be more independent to make their decisions based on the merits of a case.”

Woo’s remarks echoed the concerns of a recent management audit of the Planning Department, which concluded that the department’s advice is too often shaped by politics.

Picus said in her deposition that she actively lobbied the Planning Commission to oppose a commercial project at Warner Ridge.

Reznik, the land-use attorney, said Picus played by the unwritten rules of the game as she tried to outmaneuver the Warner Ridge developer.

But Reznik also said that those very rules at City Hall are wrong and should be reformed to reduce council involvement in daily planning decisions.

“I’d like to see the council adopt major planning policies and then have the Planning Department implement the details,” Reznik said.

Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky also said he favored legislation to bar individuals, including council members, from privately lobbying the Planning Commission.

“We’re drafting legislation to prevent ex parte communications between individuals and the commission,” Yaroslavsky said.

He said the ordinance was being prepared a long time before the Picus deposition was released.

The proposed ordinance, Yaroslavsky said, would impose fairness standards at City Hall like those now in effect in the courts where one party to a lawsuit is prohibited from talking to a judge about a case without the other party being present.