CITY HALL ROUNDUP : The waves are made of trash--and a lot of it is yours, dudes.

SPOILING THE SURF: When a group of South Bay surfers decided to take on ocean pollution--a hot topic in city halls up and down the coast--they began by pointing their fingers at themselves.

During a two-week trash pickup at El Porto in Manhattan Beach, members of a recently formed chapter of the Surfrider Foundation discovered surfboard wax wrappers, broken surfboard chunks and broken-off ankle leashes littering the sand.

To make its point that everybody--surfers and all--must nurture the ocean, the group has built an eight-foot-tall wave sculpture, decorated it with the surfer trash and placed it in the window of a Hermosa Beach surf shop.

Two cartoon sea gulls fly above the wave, one saying to the other, “Hey, dude. Lose a leash?”

ANOTHER PARKING PLACE: Landlord Richard Achatz says he won’t fight City Hall after being ordered by Lawndale officials to convert a bootleg apartment back into a garage. And one would expect no less from a member of the city’s Planning Commission, the five-member panel that upholds city building and development standards.

Achatz, an engineer at TRW, was appointed to the commission last year by Councilman Bill Johnson. When he bought the property five years ago, Achatz said, he was unaware that converting his garage into a rental unit would violate zoning codes.

His critics aren’t satisfied.

“If he didn’t know, then he’s got no business on the Planning Commission,” civic activist Herman Weinstein said. “And if he did know, then he’s taking advantage of his position on the commission.”

Achatz believes the real issue is politics, not planning. He says he’s the target of a politically motivated attack that’s meant to discredit Johnson, who’s up for reelection this spring.

LOOK! UP IN THE AIR!: It could have been a meeting of the Buffalo City Council as a resident complained about the flurry of white stuff dropping from the sky. But this was Manhattan Beach, and the man at the podium wasn’t taking on Mother Nature.

Instead, Jim Sullivan was up in arms about the stray golf balls from the Manhattan Beach Country Club that have been showering his wife’s business at a rate of two or three a day. He said the balls, rocketed into the parking lot by shaky golfers, create a danger to customers and potential liability to the city.

The City Council did not bite at Sullivan’s suggestion that the city install a $25,000 fence between the golf course and the Manhattan Marketplace shops, but City Manager Bill Smith agreed to look into the matter.

If the golfers continue their errant ways, may we suggest a speaker in the parking lot that blares out an occasional “Fore!”

SIGN LANGUAGE: Campaign signs spotted in Wilmington last week say: “Dymally, A Name You Can Depend On!” Fine--Congressman Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton) is up for reelection, right?

Nope. Dymally last week announced his retirement and endorsed his daughter, Lynn Dymally, to replace him in the newly created 37th Congressional District.

For the Dymallys, apparently, the last name is enough.

BURIED TREASURES: No, Redondo Beach is not easing its budget woes with a massive swap meet on the front steps of City Hall. But officials are in fact asking residents to clean out their closets, empty dresser drawers and pore through any boxes stacked up in the garage.

The spring cleaning is part of the city’s preparations for its April 29 centennial celebration. One of the events planned for the birthday bash is the burial of a time capsule, full of modern-day mementos from the community, to be opened 100 years from now.

Steve Shoemaker Jr., president of the Redondo Beach Visitor’s Bureau, says the capsule will be a gift from one generation of Redondo Beach residents to another. He mentioned baseball cards, historical letters and Olympic commemorative stamps as possible treasures but said residents’ imaginations will make the capsule truly special.

Do not think, however, that this is the perfect time to get rid of that old sofa, ratty rug or any other residential rubble. Members of the centennial committee will sift through the submissions--the smaller, the better--to decide which mementos are momentous enough for the future.

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Hermosa Beach: Lt. Col. Frederick R. Ferrin, a member of the Army Corps of Engineers in the Bay Area, has emerged as the leading candidate for city manager in Hermosa Beach. A final decision is due later this month. The post has been filled by Police Chief Steve Wisniewski since October when Kevin Northcraft moved to a job in San Bernardino County. In another matter, the City Council decided to postpone its reconstruction of The Strand to allow more detailed plans for the crumbling boardwalk. Facing a June 30 deadline for using its grant money, the city will seek an extension from the county so the project can begin after the busy summer months.

Inglewood: Councilman Jose Fernandez announced last week that he is switching his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. The 32-year-old, two-term councilman joined the United Democratic Club of Inglewood, he said, because the Democratic Party “understands the needs of metropolitan areas” better than the GOP.

Manhattan Beach: The City Council decided to give its towing contractor another chance despite complaints that drivers for J & D Towing of Lawndale were frequently late, slovenly dressed and rude. A company representative said employees have already cleaned up their act.

Palos Verdes Estates: The City Council hired Los Angeles lawyer Thomas F. Winfield III as city attorney and Stephanie Rose Scher as assistant attorney.

Rolling Hills: The City Council agreed to give about $10,000 in federal funds it will receive this year to Lomita to assist in the construction of low-income senior citizen housing there. Rolling Hills can’t use the Community Development Block Grant funds because it is a private, gated community with no public facilities. Since 1980 the city has given Lomita $121,490 in such funds to help meet its low-income senior citizen housing needs.

Rolling Hills Estates: The City Council repealed an ordinance on the books since December that banned the construction of fences and barriers that encroach onto or block private streets because a group of citizens gathered enough signatures to require the city to put the measure on the ballot.

Torrance: The City Council approved a new $1.50-a-month fee for recycling services, to be paid by residents whose refuse is collected by the city. The fee will help pay for the city’s new recycling program, which now serves 12,000 homes and will be citywide by midsummer. The fee, effective July 1, will be added to the $12-a-month refuse bill.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Hermosa Beach: The city is accepting applications from residents for the openings on the city’s Cable Television Advisory Board, which develops local cable policies and procedures. Contact (310) 318-0280.

Inglewood: The city has joined with the West Basin Municipal Water District to provide $100 rebates to residents who install ultra-low flush toilets to conserve water. Contact (310) 523-1060.

OTHER COUNCIL 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: 7:30 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.