A summary of selected Los Angeles City...

A summary of selected Los Angeles City Hall actions affecting Central Los Angeles in the past week.

CITY COUNCIL

CHILD CARE: Approved a two-year, no-cost lease with the Los Angeles Conservation Corp., a nonprofit organization, to operate a child-care center at 1839 S. Hoover St. in Pico-Union. The group was given a $225,000 grant from the city’s Housing and Community Department to run the center.

HISTORIC STRUCTURE: Approved adding the Pierce Brothers Mortuary at 714 W. Washington Blvd. to the list of the city’s historic-cultural monuments. The one- and two-story Spanish Colonial Revival building was built in the 1920s and is one of the last operating mortuaries on what was called “Mortuary Row” in the 1930s and ‘40s. During that period, more than 20 mortuaries were located on West Washington Boulevard between Figueroa Street and Union Avenue.

NEW LIBRARY: Approved the selection of the Fields & Devereaux architectural firm for the design and construction of the Washington Irving branch library at 4113 W. Washington Blvd. The existing library at 1830 Arlington Ave., built in 1926, is seismically unsafe and too small for its service area.

STREET CLOSURE: Approved the closure of North Main Street between Mission Road and Hancock Street in Lincoln Heights from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 27 for the 13th annual Cuauhtemoc celebration.

HOW THEY VOTED

How South - Central and Eastside representatives voted on selected issues.

TRAILS FEES: Approved a motion opposing a $23 annual permit fee for people using county trails. County officials have contended that because of budget cuts, the user fee is necessary to help maintain the 330 miles of trails. The fee went into effect Jan. 1 but is not being enforced. Passed: 12-0. Voting yes: Richard Alatorre, Joan-Milke Flores, Nate Holden, Rita Walters. Absent: Mike Hernandez and Mark Ridley-Thomas.

ILLEGAL TOKENS: Approved a proposal increasing the penalty for using illegal tokens or objects in parking meters from $250. The city attorney will write an ordinance giving offenders mandatory jail time and a fine of not less than $300. Passed: 12-0. Voting yes: Alatorre, Flores, Hernandez and Holden. Absent: Ridley-Thomas and Walters.

RIOT EQUIPMENT: Approved a proposal to allow the Police Department to spend $1 million in grants to buy additional equipment in preparation for any unrest that might result from verdicts in the federal civil rights trial stemming from the March, 1991, police beating of motorist Rodney G. King and the upcoming trial of defendants in the beating of trucker Reginald O. Denny. Passed: 14-0. Voting yes: Alatorre, Hernandez, Flores, Holden and Walters. Absent: Ridley-Thomas.