Bernardi Focuses on Pacoima for Landfill Fund Program

Los Angeles City Councilman Ernani Bernardi said Wednesday he is considering only Pacoima sites for a $700,000 anti-gang program that has drawn criticism from residents of nearby communities who believe the money should be spent in their neighborhoods.

Bernardi had said he was also considering sites in Lake View Terrace. But Wednesday, after a City Council committee voted 2 to 0 to recommend approval of the proposal, Bernardi said he is now looking at Pacoima exclusively.

The money would come from a fund created for enhancements in communities affected by their proximity to Lopez Canyon Landfill. Homeowner leaders from Lake View Terrace and Kagel Canyon have argued that Pacoima is not harmed by the presence of the landfill.

“Everybody’s trying to get their hands into our cookie jar,” Lew Snow, an official with the Lake View Terrace Homeowners Assn., said after the vote by the council’s Environmental Quality and Waste Management Committee.

Rob Zapple, a member of the board of the Kagel Canyon Civic Assn., said the groups will sue to prevent the unauthorized use of the money in Pacoima.

The fund, which eventually will contain $5 million, was set up two years ago by the council, with Bernardi’s help, as the city sought permission to extend the life of the landfill. He wants the money to house the Jeopardy program, an anti-gang effort run by the Los Angeles Police Department that involves young people in boxing.

Bernardi has said he regards Pacoima as one of the communities affected because garbage trucks go through the area on their way to and from the landfill.

Although the council will decide how the trust fund money is spent, lawmakers are expected to defer to Bernardi on the location because he represents the communities involved.

Committee members who voted Wednesday were Ruth Galanter and Joy Picus. The proposal goes next to the full council, but a date has not been determined.