CITY HALL ROUNDUP : El Segundo’s on notice that the city clerk really needed a training session.

MEETING ADJOURNED: The government is best which governs least, contend some political philosophers. But what if the government doesn’t govern at all?

In El Segundo, for the third time in four months, a City Council meeting has been canceled because it was not properly advertised by the city clerk’s office. The council skipped last Tuesday’s session after determining that newly elected City Clerk Cindy Mortesen had posted the agenda too late. State law requires that council agendas be posted 72 hours before meetings.

Appropriately, Mortesen was attending a training seminar in Montecito to be certified as a city clerk when the mix-up occurred. Mortesen, elected in April after unseating an eight-year incumbent, has apologized to city officials.

She was on vacation last week and could not be reached for comment. But her deputy, Lora Freeman, explained the mix-ups this way: “Everybody thought someone else was doing it.”

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GOVERNMENT HOUSING: Avalon is one place you might be able to persuade voters to expand local government.

At least, that is, the size of City Hall.

The rickety old Avalon City Hall is nearly 75 years old; small, two-story, with the firehouse and ambulance on the first floor and the city offices and council chambers on the second. The city manager’s office is 10 by 12 feet and is cooled the old-fashioned way: by propping the window open with an empty coffee can.

There is hope for a new city hall, however. The city is negotiating with developers and the Santa Catalina Island Co. for a citywide redevelopment plan that includes a new city hall and civic center.

Meanwhile, the unseasonably hot weather--88 degrees in the shade--has sweltering city officials stripping off ties and shirts and coming to work in shorts.

Many of them have been congregating next door in the air-conditioned city finance office, where cooler heads prevail.

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REAL TAXES FOR REAL PEOPLE: The Palos Verdes Estates City Council on Tuesday will consider a controversial proposal to change the business tax structure, especially as it applies to real estate agents and brokers. Currently, real estate offices with 75 to 100 agents pay a business tax of $681, City Manager James Hendrickson said.

Under the proposal, real estate offices would have to pay $274 for each agent and $104 for each broker. In all, the tax would raise $190,000 annually--$35,000 a year more than the current business levy.

However, the proposal is almost sure to touch off a storm of protest. When a similar plan was considered in December, the opposition was so vigorous that the council backed down.

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PARTY TIME: Torrance City Councilman Mark Wirth, planning a 1994 run for the state Senate, is cementing ties with the Democratic Party. Wirth donated $260 from his campaign fund to the campaign of presidential candidate Bill Clinton.

Wirth’s most recent campaign report also showed credit card payments totaling nearly $1,000 for expenses that Wirth and his wife, Nancy, incurred while at the Democratic National Convention in New York and for conferences in Santa Barbara and Washington.

Campaign funds also paid for Nancy Wirth’s air fare to the Democratic National Convention.

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Lawndale: The City Council on Thursday gave preliminary approval to an ordinance that would make it harder for mobile home park owners to evict tenants. Under the measure, park owners would be required to relocate residents to a park of their choice within a 120-mile radius. A final vote on the measure has been scheduled for Sept. 3.

Redondo Beach: The City Council requested an $11,818 grant from the state Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response to develop an oil spill contingency plan.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Los Angeles: The City Council will consider a proposal to set aside 23 acres of land at Angels Gate Park in San Pedro for new Air Force housing.

Hermosa Beach: The City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday on whether to change the city’s zoning code to lower the height allowances in R-3 zones.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Gardena: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1700 W. 162nd St., Gardena. (310) 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. (310) 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. (310) 318-0239. Televised live on Channel 3 (Multivision).

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

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.

Palos Verdes Estates: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 340 Palos Verdes Drive West, Palos Verdes Estates. (310) 378-0383. No cable telecast.

Rolling Hills: 7:30 p.m. Monday, 2 Portuguese Bend Road, Rolling Hills. (310) 377-1521. No cable telecast.

Rolling Hills Estates: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 4045 Palos Verdes Drive North, Rolling Hills Estates. (310) 377-1577. Televised live on Channel 3 (Dimension).

Torrance: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance. (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.