CITY HALL ROUNDUP : Inglewood has an image problem the size of ‘Grand Canyon.’

INGLENOOK, REVISITED: They spend tens of thousands of dollars on a Rose Parade float to show the nation their best side. They launch a campaign promoting their city as the home of sport champions. They have a world-class racetrack, a state-of-the-art medical center, low-cost housing--and more important for Angelenos, great freeway access.

And what does Inglewood get for it? A cameo role in the movie “Grand Canyon” in which the city is portrayed as a place where yuppies fear to tread.

The quick cut goes something like this: Kevin Kline attends Los Angeles Lakers game with Steve Martin. Kline gets in his car after the game and proceeds to get lost somewhere near the Forum. The streets look like Dresden after the war, except of course for the modern-day gang-bangers who soon descend upon Kline when his car breaks down.

When he telephones his son to tell him of his predicament, Kline is informed that since he was in Inglewood, he’s lucky to be alive. He survived, of course, but the city’s image may be in intensive care.

Remember, this is the place that, when Earvin (Magic) Johnson announced his retirement, was referred to in the venerable Times of London as Inglenook.

City officials say that since Lawrence Kasdan’s movie came out, they’ve received dozens of calls from upset residents.

“We’re still determining what our response will be,” city spokesman Truman Jacques said. “When something like this happens, we usually write to the company or person and ask them to be more sensitive and understanding. But it’s not like we can stop anybody from doing something like this.”

Still, since the city has been a popular filming spot recently, Inglewood officials may find themselves reading scripts soon to try to avoid another national mugging.

Said Jacques: “The real problem with something like this is that it wasn’t really necessary (to mention Inglewood). Everybody knows where the Forum is. It wasn’t exactly a cheap shot, but it’s close.”

HOME ON THE RANGE: It wasn’t a fear of stray bullets that prompted the City Council in Redondo Beach last week to close off the outdoor police firing range to a group of high school ROTC students.

Instead, it was concern about noise pollution. Those darn rifles just make such a racket.

Residents living in apartments and condominiums near the range already complain when police officers train there three times a month and a “tenuous relationship” exists between the department and the neighbors, according to Police Capt. Roger F. Bass.

The Marine Corps Junior ROTC had sought permission to use the range as a replacement for the costly private range in Torrance where they now shoot.

“It is our very real concern,” Bass wrote to the council, “that any increased weapons activity at the Police Range will result in increased complaints of noise from the community and ultimately place our law enforcement weapons training program in jeopardy.”

Lt. Col. Kenneth R. Falasco, the senior military instructor for the South Bay Union High School District program, said the city need not be so concerned.

The .22-caliber rifles used by the students make the “sound of a cap gun,” he said, and the shooting would have occurred a few days a year from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., when most of the neighbors would not even be home.

POUNDING OF THE PEOPLE: The booming resonates throughout the Hermosa Beach City Council chambers with no regard for the matter at hand. No matter how fiery or mild the debate, the sound never stops.

The cable television station picks it up on its live broadcasts of the meetings. The council members hear it as plain as day. Audience members shuffle uncomfortably in their chairs.

Is it late-night construction? A nearby basketball game? An otherworldly pounding of the people, perhaps aimed at keeping elected officials in line?

Nope. Just your friendly neighborhood drunk tank.

That’s right. In a nod to great city planning, the Police Department’s detoxification cell ended up right next to the council chambers. And when the cell residents have something to say, the council chamber audience is forced to listen.

“There are people who are inebriated who bang on the walls of their cells,” Police Cmdr. Anthony Altfeld said. “It is loud and it is disturbing.”

When it gets too irritating, the council sends an aide over to the Police Department to try to silence the din.

TOUCHE?: Backers of a plan to build a new crude oil pipeline from Santa Barbara County to the South Bay won’t make it into the debating hall of fame with this one.

After wading though two huge volumes of detailed assessment, readers of the report filed by the company proposing the project, Pacific Pipeline System, encounter the section where the firm addresses the alternative of not building a pipeline at all.

The report’s conclusion: “The No-Project Alternative would not meet any of the Project Objectives.”

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Redondo Beach: The City Council rejected a proposal by City Atty. Gordon Phillips to ask voters to change the city attorney’s post from an elected to an appointed position. Phillips, who has held the job for 11 years, said the job is increasingly specialized and requires long-term commitment. But the council said an appointed city attorney might not be as independent as the current elected city attorney.

Manhattan Beach: In an effort to increase revenues during a budget crunch, the City Council rescinded a ban on advertising at bus shelters and agreed to pursue sponsors for the dozen city-owned bus stops in the city. The council also scheduled a celebration for Feb. 29 to mark the opening of the new pier. An aquarium at the end of the pier will not open until the spring.

Rancho Palos Verdes: The City Council on Tuesday named to its Traffic Committee: Bruce Edelson, Bruce Franklin, James Sarner, William Schurmer, Charlotte Iseda, John Jaacks and James Moore. Sarner will serve as chairman. In related matters, the council increased from seven to nine the number of residents serving on the Recreation and Parks Committee. They are Andy Bonacich, Noreen Chambers, Lee Gintz, Edward Kennedy, Jean Longacre, Marilyn Lyon, Walter Marshall, James Slayden and Kim Wang. Bonacich was named chairman.

The view restoration committee will consist of Jennifer Boudreau, Jon Cartwright, Norm Eastwood, Gail Lorenzen, Edward Murphy, Warren Sweetnam and Paul Weisz. Weisz is chairman. Alternates are Carol Black, Martin Dodell and Nancy Goern. Terms of the new committee members will expire in December, 1993.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Redondo Beach: The Planning Commission will have a public hearing on the proposed general plan at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 415 Diamond St. Among the proposals is a requirement that property owners within 2,800 feet of the Southern California Edison Plant inform buyers and renters of potential noise problems stemming from the plant. More than a dozen other meetings on other aspects of the plan will be held in the coming months. The plan will be adopted in April.

OTHER MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Gardena: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1700 W. 162nd St., Gardena. 217-9565. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon) and repeated 7 p.m. on the next two Sundays.

Hawthorne: 7 p.m. Monday, 4455 W. 126th St., Hawthorne. 970-7902. Televised on Channel 22 (Paragon) at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 6 p.m. Saturday.

Hermosa Beach: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1315 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach. 318-0239. Televised live on Channel 3 (Multivision).

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

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.

Palos Verdes Estates: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 340 Palos Verdes Drive West, Palos Verdes Estates. 378-0383. No cable telecast.

Rolling Hills: 7:30 p.m. Monday, 2 Portuguese Bend Road, Rolling Hills. 377-1521. No cable telecast.

Rolling Hills Estates: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 4045 Palos Verdes Drive North, Rolling Hills Estates. 377-1577. Televised live on Channel 3 (Dimension).

Torrance: 7 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.