CITY HALL ROUNDUP : Shopping for a category to keep the mall No. 1 in the Land

AMERICA’S MALL: For years, Torrance’s Del Amo Fashion Mall held the undisputed title as largest mall in North America, with 3 million square feet.

In 1981, however, came the 5.2-million-square-foot West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta. The Torrance mall was eclipsed.

Or was it?

Del Amo officials clung to their coveted status by making Mexico and Canada geographically ineligible for their new title: America’s largest mall.

Now comes a 4.25-million-square-foot Minnesota monstrosity called “Mall of America,” which opened in mid-August. The $650-million, fully enclosed mega-mall houses--among other things--the Camp Snoopy indoor theme park, a huge Lego exhibit and nearly 400 stores. The mall even has its own phone jingle: “There’s a place for fun in your life, the Mall of America.”

Jingle-less though they may be, our Bear Republic retailers aren’t about to roll over for a bunch of Gopher State merchandisers. A Del Amo spokeswoman says the local shopping complex is still the largest in America--in terms of retail square footage. By that criterion, she’s right: Del Amo has about 400,000 more square feet of retail space.

There may be an asterisk by the Del Amo Mall in the record books, but, rest easy, Torrance, your mall is still No. 1.

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KITTY KORNER: Carson officials are hoping a new pet licensing fee passed last week will persuade cat owners to conduct prompt searches for their missing felines.

Under contract with Carson to pick up strays, the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control impounded more cats than dogs last year. The county collared some 1,870 cats.

“If a dog takes off, within the first day or two the owner comes looking for it. But if Fluffy takes off, owners don’t start looking until several days or sometimes weeks. They think, ‘Oh, it’s their nature.’ We want to reverse that,” said Bob Ballenger, a spokesman for the animal control department.

An owner who wants to retrieve an impounded cat would have to pay a $10 impound fee, a $7.50 a day boarding fee, plus the license fee, Ballenger said. City officials hope the license will also help officers trace the owners of cats picked up as strays.

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GAMBLING WITH THE MAIL: What does the Hollywood Park Expansion proposal mean to its Inglewood neighbors? Apparently, lots of mail between now and election day.

Already, a slick, six-page, 8 1/2-by-11-inch brochure has landed in mailboxes urging voters to support the referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot that, if approved, would allow a card club at the track.

Orange County political consultant Harvey Englander, hired to run the campaign for the track, won’t say what his budget is. Political pros, though, are betting Englander will spend upward of $50 for every vote the card club gets.

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RED PHONES: Residents of Hawthorne, Gardena, El Segundo and Manhattan Beach can now be notified of crisis situations in their area by telephone within minutes after emergencies occur.

With a new system called the Community Alert Network, safety officials in the four cities simply call a central dispatch center with instructions or information on crises ranging from missing children to earthquake evacuations. Within minutes, residents with listed phone numbers will get computer-generated calls from the dispatch center playing back the taped message. Residents with unlisted phone numbers can have their numbers added.

“It’s an asset because it’s a way of alerting everyone in a community individually rather than driving through the streets and trying to get past the noise,” said Tim O’Rourke, Hawthorne fire marshal.

The four cities are paying a total of about $20,000 to install the new system and will pay 50 cents a call.

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Under pressure from local fishermen, Manhattan Beach City Councilwoman Bonnie Sieber withdrew her proposal on Tuesday to ban fishing from the newly restored Manhattan Beach Pier.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

The Hermosa Beach City Council will conduct a public hearing on whether the city should allow parking on Beach Drive and on pedestrian streets near the Strand.

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.