Business Forum Attempts Exercise to Trim City’s Budget : Van Nuys: The goal of the event was to come up with $550 million in recommended cuts. They will be delivered to the City Council Thursday.

A group dominated by San Fernando Valley real estate agents and other business people met in Van Nuys Monday to crack a problem that has perplexed their elected Los Angeles city officials--balancing the city’s budget.

Their ideas were both predictable (cut city administrators’ salaries and city cars) and unusual (charge out-of-town manufacturers a merchandise “drop-off” fee and legalize gambling). But two messages were loud, clear and nearly unanimous: cut, cut, cut, and no new taxes.

“We’ve helped create this monster,” said real estate agent Bud Mauro. “Now we’ve got to cut off the head and the tail.”

Then, the 60 or so participants went to work to slice up to $550 million from the city budget, their visual encouragement a $3.79 apple pie delivered to each table to symbolize the shrinking financial pie.

“Later we’ll have it for dessert,” said Jay Tennen, vice chairman of the governmental affairs committee for the San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors, which co-sponsored the event with the Los Angeles Daily News.

The top recommendations from Monday’s forum are to be delivered to the City Council Thursday, perhaps with a new set of pies, if council rules allow.

Like their political counterparts, the forum participants were not immune to lobbying. During a 10-minute morning coffee break which immediately preceded the in-depth budget wrangling, one real estate agent left copies of his own nine-point budget plan at each participant’s seat. Some of those ideas--particularly taking away city-issued cars--crept into most groups’ recommendations.

Nor did the forum lack the heated sparring typical of council meetings.

Retired business consultant Barry Balmont went against the majority when he mentioned the T-word: “You can’t say, ‘We’ve got a $550-million problem, we’re not going to cut police, fire or sanitation and we’re not going to raise taxes.’ ”

Balmont was quickly shushed by his colleagues.

Yet the majority of the eight groups ultimately arrived at the realization that Balmont was right. Most said cuts alone would not suffice in the worst-case scenario--if the state gives public schools property tax revenues heretofore passed on to cities.

Several groups recommended extending the half-cent city sales tax, due to expire this summer. Others suggested increased garbage pickup fees and water taxes.

“We all know we’re going to have to pay more to get less,” said real estate agent Marlene Seltzer.

Aside from direct fees, some of the more creative ideas included:

* Asking employees to take a day off without pay every month.

* Forcing council members and their staffs to give up their cars and ride public transportation.

* Firing the mayor and his staff, leaving the position to rotate among council members.

* Consolidating city and county functions that are duplicative, such as law enforcement training or libraries.

* Leasing out to smaller cities expensive city equipment that is under-used.

Frequently, discussion group members introduced their suggestions by recounting their personal observations of “the real problem” with city services. Mauro said just days ago he had seen 11 city workers at a street repair project on Tuxford Street--one sweeping, 10 watching.

“We have a lot of fat to work with,” he concluded.

But fat it seems, at least when it comes to city workers, is in the eye of the beholder.

Banker David Sims questioned the need for street sweeping. “How essential of a service is it anyway?” he asked.

“Essential!” responded northeast Valley political activist Marie Harris.

As the deadline for making cuts--1:30 p.m.--approached, the groups became more animated.

“If we don’t come up with another $129 million in cuts in the next 10 minutes, this table will have nothing to bitch about when the budget is passed,” said Bob Blacketor, area manager of the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Sims scanned the formidable list of cuts and fee increases the group had already agreed on, including a one-year cut in all arts support, a 10% increase in the cable television users fee and consolidation of the city and county library departments.

He sighed and said, “Maybe we should take votes on what we see as the lesser of five or 10 evils.”