Ode to a government earner: The main...

Ode to a government earner: The main piece of the exhibit consists of a silhouetted man with briefcase atop a faux marble archway bearing the inscription, “E Pluribus Unknown.” The arch covers a coffeepot on a pedestal.

Titled, “Monument of the Unknown Government Employee,” the artwork has begun a three-week engagement in the rotunda of City Hall, of all places.

Artist John Marshall “wanted it there because he wants the employees to think about their relationship with the government,” said Al Nodal, general manager of the city’s Cultural Affairs Department. “It can be pretty puzzling over there (in City Hall),” he added, laughing.

Marshall’s audience hasn’t been totally supportive.

“Is it making fun of city workers?” one city worker was overheard asking.

“I can’t figure out the coffeepot,” said another.

The artist would have won a lot more fans if he’d plugged in the pot.

Drive-through donating: You may have noticed that parking lot employees are now trying to attract the attention of motorists downtown by waving tiny orange flags. Well, the other day, we saw a guy waving one of the little banners near the corner of 2nd and Figueroa streets. No parking lot was in sight, but he was also holding up a placard indicating he needed a handout.

Liz Angeles: The legend of the gold-filled tunnels of the Lizard People refuses to die.

A 1934 attempt to locate L.A.’s phantom treasure is recounted in Unicus, which bills itself as “the magazine for earthbound extraterrestrials.” (No wonder we have so much trouble finding it on local newsstands.)

W. Warren Shufelt, a miner with a “radio-directed apparatus,” divined the vast underground bonanza near the Public Library. The story gets better. A Hopi Indian named Chief Little Green Leaf told Shufelt the legend of the Lizard People, who burrowed into the Earth with their gold 5,000 years ago to escape an enormous meteor shower.

Shufelt was allowed to drill near the site of the L.A. Board of Education’s headquarters. But there were fears of cave-ins. He stopped at 350 feet without striking it rich.

Unicus insists there may still be “another city below the Civic Center.” And we salute the publication for tempting its extraterrestrial readers. L.A. needs the tourist business.

Maybe the Lizard People could translate it: Don Salper of Northridge, who took the accompanying shot of a billboard before the election, says that the propositions on the recent ballot “were confusing enough already.”

Speaking of gibberish: A fax from a local organization arrived at The Times with the notation: “Please advise if not received.”

miscelLAny:

There are about 6,500 miles of streets in L.A., of which about 1,040 miles are lined with red curbs (invariably the ones where you wish to park).