No word yet whether the Easter Bunny has ‘endorsed’ her campaign as well.

TRUE FAX?: Faxes are flying in Inglewood on the heels of City Council candidate Mary Allen’s effort to fill voters’ mailboxes with a new piece of campaign material every day.

Allen, one of five candidates trying to unseat incumbent City Councilman Daniel K. Tabor in Tuesday’s election, included the picture of every big shot she could muster in her campaign mailers.

The heavyweights included school board President Thomasina Reed, Inglewood Police Chief Oliver M. Thompson, School Trustee Larry Aubry and state Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles).

Just one problem. They all deny endorsing Allen. And they have flooded fax lines to make the point.

The mailers are the handiwork of Allen’s campaign manager, Basil Kimbrew, a master at splitting hairs. Just because the word “endorsed” is on the mailers, Kimbrew says, doesn’t mean he and Allen are claiming endorsements from any of the folks pictured.

One thing is certain: Tabor is happy about all of the faxing.

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FAST LANE: Though it opened on April Fools’ Day, the South Bay’s seven-mile car-pool lane on the southbound San Diego Freeway is no joke.

If you are driving with at least one passenger, you would be a fool not to use the lane, Caltrans says, because it will save you time.

If you are driving alone and use the lane, the agency says, then you must be a fool--the fine is $271 for violating the two-passenger minimum.

The lane runs through a number of South Bay cities, from El Segundo Boulevard to near the Harbor Freeway. The lane on the northbound side should be completed later this month. More than a quarter-million vehicles use the stretch of freeway every day. The project, which began in January, 1992, cost $8.2 million.

The opening coincided with “Team Rideshare Thursday,” a campaign Caltrans and the South Coast Air Quality Management District began Feb. 18 to encourage more car-pooling on at least one day a week.

Commuters interested in finding a ride-share partner may join the program by calling (800) 286-RIDE. They will be matched with others who work and live nearby and have similar work schedules.

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MEET THE PRESS: The seven candidates for the 15th Los Angeles City Council District will answer questions from a panel of journalists at a forum at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Cabrillo Marina Community Room by the Doubletree Hotel in San Pedro.

The candidates are: incumbent Joan Milke Flores; former County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn’s daughter, Janice Hahn; Los Angeles Unified School District board member Warren Furutani; local attorneys James Thompson and Diane Middleton; businessman Rudy Svorinich Jr., and Mayor Tom Bradley’s director of computer operations, Louis Dominguez.

The forum is sponsored by the San Pedro & Peninsula Homeowners Coalition, a nonprofit organization representing 23 homeowner associations in the Harbor area.

The panel will be made up of reporters from the City News Service, the News-Pilot, the weekly newspaper Random Lengths and the Los Angeles Times.

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REST ASSURED: Speaking of Flores, the Los Angeles city councilwoman says she has been assured by Police Chief Willie Williams and local LAPD captains that authorities have made “every effort possible” to prepare for fallout from the verdicts in the federal civil rights trial of the four police officers involved in the Rodney G. King beating.

The case is expected to go to the jury this week or next.

Flores has met with Williams, Southeast Division Capt. Willie Pannell, and Harbor division Capt. Tim King. She toured the two stations and was told of plans to coordinate with other law enforcement agencies if unrest occurs after the verdicts are announced. The South Bay suffered limited damage in last spring’s disturbances following the verdicts in the officers’ state trial.

“I have been firmly assured by Chief Williams, as well as Captain King and Captain Pannell, that every effort possible is being explored to prepare for the verdict,” Flores said in a statement.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I’ve seen a lot of one-eyed animals out there that are able to make a living.”

--Donald Zumwalt, director of the new Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, commenting on the prospects that a one-eyed California sea lion would survive in the open sea after treatment.

LAST WEEK’S CITY HALL HIGHLIGHTS

Torrance: The Parks and Recreation Department kicked off its “Living Dedication Tree Program” in which residents or organizations can commemorate weddings, birthdays, deaths, anniversaries, etc. by buying a tree that will be planted in the city park of their choosing. No plaque or marker is placed in the park, but the donor receives a certificate.

Rancho Palos Verdes: Two city department heads resigned last week in the wake of city budget cuts they said had hampered their ability to do their jobs. Director of Recreation and Parks Mary A. Thomas left her post Thursday. Director of Environmental Services Dudley Onderdonk’s resignation was effective Friday. Thomas’ position will remain vacant; the city has appointed Bret B. Bernard, planning administrator for Manhattan Beach, to fill Onderdonk’s post.

THIS WEEK’S CITY HALL HIGHLIGHTS

Rolling Hills Estates: The Palos Verdes Library District has scheduled a Thursday meeting and public hearing to review five-year revenue projections, which show a $3.95-million shortfall. Among the other issues on the agenda is a proposal to close both branch libraries and reduce hours at the Peninsula Center Library. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at Rolling Hills Estates City Hall.

Inglewood: “The Paint Station,” a cooperative business development between Benjamin Moore & Co., Rebuild L.A. and two brothers, Sam and Derek Burris, will open Wednesday at 529 E. Manchester Blvd. Benjamin Moore provided most of the start-up money under its temporary co-ownership program. The store will sell paint and other decorative items.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Avalon: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 209 Metropole. (310) 510-0220. Televised live on Channel 3 (Catalina Cable) and repeated Saturday morning.

Carson: 6 p.m. Tuesday, 701 E. Carson St. (310) 830-7600. Televised at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 26 (Continental Cablevision) and repeated the following Wednesday.

El Segundo: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 350 Main St. (310) 322-4670. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon) and repeated at noon Wednesday.

Lawndale: 7 p.m. Thursday, 14717 Burin Ave. (310) 973-4321. Televised live on Channel 60 and repeated several times during the week.

Lomita: 7 p.m. Monday, 24300 Narbonne Ave. (310) 325-7110. No cable telecasts.

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.

Manhattan Beach: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1400 Highland Ave. (310) 545-5621. Televised on Channel 3 (MultiVision) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Rancho Palos Verdes: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Hesse Park, 29201 Hawthorne Blvd. (310) 377-0360. Televised live on Channel 3; repeated at 7:30 p.m. the following Thursday.

Redondo Beach: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, 415 Diamond St. (310) 372-1171. Televised live on Channel 8 (Century); repeated at 3 p.m. Wednesday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

Torrance: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, 3031 Torrance Blvd. (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.