CITY HALL ROUNDUP : We’ll just see if raucous reporters are better than parading peacocks.

IN LIVING COLOR: If the residents of Rolling Hills Estates think the peacocks that thrive in their neighborhood are noisy, wait until the first wave of national news correspondents arrive.

It appears that the Pied Piper of peacocks--Iowa farmer Dennis Fett--has also enticed a pack of big-time journalists anxious to record his efforts to rid the city’s lush estates of the noisy birds.

Officials have counted 141 of these exotic creatures roosting in trees and parading across yards on Strawberry Lane, causing a ruckus. Some residents love the peacocks, but others hate their noise and the sizable mess they leave.

Searching for some way to solve the peacock standoff without killing the birds, the city contacted Fett to come and help. He’s promised to lead the birds away to nearby uninhabited canyons, and to teach the area’s residents how to cope. Fett is scheduled to begin working his magic Saturday.

But the story has caught the attention of the national press corps--and sent a shudder through the privacy-minded residents in the secluded area.

City officials and residents along Strawberry Lane have declared Fett’s efforts will be off limits to the media, fearing that a mob of reporters and cameras crews will descend on the neighborhood.

“We’ve had requests from Dan Rather, ABC, other networks, all of the local TV stations, Time and National Geographic,” said an awed city official. He said the press will get to meet Fett at a Monday news conference, before the start of a town hall meeting at City Hall.

Any city that has had such a hard time getting rid of a bunch of birds clearly has not dealt with a pack of competitive scribes. Stay tuned.

HAVE PLATFORM, WILL DIVE: It was probably only a matter of time before the “Buy American” frenzy spun out of control. But who would have thought it would have surfaced in Torrance?

Sure enough, City Council candidate Burton Fletcher has started calling on people to “Buy Torrance.”

“I’ve called so many people for (campaign) donations who say they are just barely making it,” Fletcher says. “We’d like to see the dollars circulate in the Torrance community.”

But City Atty. Kenneth Nelson has thrown some cold water on Fletcher’s boosterism by noting that for most purchases, the city by law must award contracts to the lowest bidder--even if that bidder is from El Segundo or even Los Angeles.

And Mayor Katy Geissert comments, somewhat acidly: “I’d have to ask Mr. Fletcher, if he had a malignancy, and the best oncologist was in L.A.--would he refuse to go because he’s not a Torrance physician?”

But Fletcher is undeterred. Even if his “Buy-in-Torrance” platform is undermined by bidding rules, he says, he will still encourage Torrance businesses to patronize other Torrance businesses.

And he says it’s OK to buy Japanese, as long as the companies are located in Torrance. That makes good sense for a council candidate in a town that is home to U.S. offices of two Japanese auto giants, Honda and Toyota.

ELECTION PILEUP: Who says nothing ever happens in El Segundo? Heck, folks there are queuing up around the block for the next City Council election.

Indeed, there could be as many as a dozen candidates vying for three council seats in April now that incumbent Scot Dannen has taken his name out of the running.

“It’s time for Dad to spend a little time with the family,” Dannen said by way of explaining why he will not seek a second term.

Incumbents Carl Jacobson and Janice Cruikshank say they will seek reelection.

Dannen and his wife have two daughters, 13 and 15, and the older would be in college by the time a second term ended, Dannen said. He was a planning commissioner for four years before winning a spot on the council.

PIER PRESSURE: City officials in Redondo Beach have come up with a novel way to fight the Southland’s burgeoning gang problem. They’re going to raise the parking rates at the city pier.

If that doesn’t send a strong message to the gangs, nothing will.

The way city officials see it, since the pier has become something of a party hangout for young gang members, the city can hit the gangbangers where it hurts--in their billfolds. Parking rates at the pier parking structure are among the lowest along the coast, and hiking them a bit might keep bad elements from congregating along the beach, city officials say.

Weekend parking at the pier after 6 p.m. is $1 per day and city officials are investigating whether it’s time to up the ante. The study will look at costs at similar coastal gathering spots and poll Redondo Beach merchants on their views.

The problem, however, is not just with street gangs. On one recent night, dozens of teen-agers lined up at the trunk of a car inside the parking garage as two boys sold balloons full of nitrous oxide for $3 a pop. The crowd sucked down the gas and danced into the night.

Maybe the city should shoot for a tax on laughing gas.

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Redondo Beach: Robert Atkinson, the city’s longtime recreation and parks director, announced that he will retire in June after 28 years in the post. Atkinson will not be replaced because of budget limitations. Instead, the Recreation and Parks Department will be merged with the Community Services Department. Sue Haller-Armstrong, the city’s community services director, will manage the department.

Palos Verdes Estates: The City Council on Tuesday introduced an ordinance allowing residents on Via Tejon and Via Del Monte near Malaga Cove Plaza to park in posted no-parking zones in front of their homes.

The nine residences affected by the new ordinance, which will become effective March 13 if adopted as expected at the next council meeting, will be issued parking permits allowing them to park at their front curbs.

The permits will cost $20 each and will be issued to as many as three vehicles per residence, as long as the automobiles are registered to people living at the property.

FOR THE RECORD

An item in last Sunday’s City Hall Roundup incorrectly identified the city that approved an advertising program at bus shelters to ease a budget crunch. The program was adopted in Carson.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Avalon: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 209 Metropole. (310) 510-0220. Televised live on Channel 3 (Catalina Cable) and repeated Saturday morning.

Carson: 6 p.m. Tuesday, 701 E. Carson St. (310) 830-7600. Televised at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 26 (Continental Cablevision) and repeated the next Wednesday.

El Segundo: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 350 Main St. (310) 322-4670. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon) and repeated at noon Wednesday.

Inglewood: 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, 1 Manchester Blvd. (310) 412-5280. No cable telecast.

Lawndale: 7 p.m. Thursday, 14717 Burin Ave. (310) 973-4321. Televised live on Channel 60 and repeated several times during the week.

Lomita: 7 p.m. Monday, 24300 Narbonne Ave. (310) 325-7170. No cable telecasts.

Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles. In San Pedro, (310) 548-7637; in Wilmington, (310) 548-7586; in Harbor City/Harbor Gateway, (310) 548-7664; in Westchester, (310) 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. (310) 545-5621. Televised on Channel 3 (MultiVision) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Rancho Palos Verdes: 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, Hesse Park, 29201 Hawthorne Blvd. (310) 377-0360. Televised live on Channel 3; repeated at 7:30 p.m. the following Tuesday.

Redondo Beach: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, 415 Diamond St. (310) 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. (310) 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.