Panel Cuts, Then Raises Drug Program Funds : Police: Approval of another $530,000 for FALCON comes after L.A. complains to the governor. It is the latest chapter in a dispute over dividing federal money.

After first approving a sharp reduction in money for a Los Angeles police anti-drug program, a local government panel has approved another $530,000 to bring the funding to slightly above last year’s, it was revealed Monday.

The action produced a budget of about $1.5 million for the fiscal year that started July 1.

The program, called FALCON for Focused Attack Linking Community Organizations and Neighborhoods, is citywide. It represents the only L.A. effort paid for by federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act grants.

It has been active in several drug hot spots in the San Fernando Valley. A showcase project has been at Lanark Park in Canoga Park.

The reversal happened after the city complained to Gov. Pete Wilson and a member of his administration intervened. It was the latest chapter in a bitter dispute over how to divide the federal money in Los Angeles County--a process that one Superior Court judge has likened to a shark-feeding frenzy.

News of the increase came out during a hearing before the Los Angeles City Council’s Public Safety Committee.

The 2-year-old effort uses non-traditional methods to fight drug trafficking, including obtaining the cooperation of landlords and community groups. Staffers work in neighborhoods to spot problems, urge landlords to evict drug dealers and get to know residents. Half its personnel are from the police. Others come from the city Department of Building and Safety.

The 10-member county Anti-Drug Abuse Steering Committee initially awarded $1,051,000 to FALCON, about $400,000 less than it got last year.

Subsequently, city officials, led by City Councilwoman Joy Picus, City Atty. James Hahn and Mayor Tom Bradley, appealed to Wilson’s office. They complained that the steering committee had denied the FALCON program a fair share of the grant funds.

The steering committee, dominated by various county agencies, is charged with allocating the federal anti-drug grants in Los Angeles County. It is accountable to the state.

A turning point in the city’s fight came when it won the support of Ray Johnson, executive director of the state Office of Criminal Justice Planning, said Mike Thompson, an adviser to the mayor.

Johnson wrote to Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Kay, the chairman of the committee, saying the initial award “does not appear to be an equitable sharing of grant funds.”

Johnson warned Kay that the committee’s treatment of the FALCON program “may jeopardize Anti-Drug Abuse funds statewide” and recommended that the panel adopt objective criteria for allocating the $7 million a year it receives for the purpose.

“No one can argue that the city of Los Angeles accounts for the majority of crimes within the county,” Johnson wrote. “For this fact, the city should be given consideration for a fair percentage in order to address their unique problem.”

Superior Court Judge Cecil Mills wrote Johnson in June to complain that fund allocation was like a “group of sharks in a feeding frenzy.” Especially regrettable, Mills said, was the fact that agencies seeking money are represented on the committee awarding it.

The panel reversed its decision and awarded $1,585,000 to FALCON a month ago, Police Lt. Rick Smith, the head of the program, told the council committee.

Smith told reporters that even with the increase the program is still getting only 22% of the federal Anti-Drug Abuse grant money. “That’s still not the city’s fair share,” he said.

Kay denied the panel reversed itself because of the lobbying.

“Our new decision was not based on any pressure the city brought on us,” Kay said.

The new money was provided to FALCON after the state refused to approve nearly $1 million for other programs, Kay said. The $1 million was redistributed to other anti-drug programs, including FALCON, he said.

“But for the unfortunate fact that these county programs were not funded, there would’ve been no decision to provide new money to FALCON in spite of Ray Johnson’s letter,” Kay said. He added that he continued to believe the FALCON program’s budget is unreasonably inflated by the amount devoted to police pensions.