Picus Still Has Work to Do on Warner Center Before Leaving Office : City Council: The official, who earned a reputation as being tough, says she’s ‘enormously proud’ of her record during four terms representing the 3rd District.

Sixteen years after she arrived as a San Fernando Valley homemaker-turned-politician, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus leaves her City Hall office this afternoon for the last time.

But before she lugs the last files and boxes of mementos out of her second-floor suite, Picus has work to do. One of her final official actions as a city councilwoman will be to sign off on a plan to guide development in Woodland Hills’ Warner Center into the next century.

Appropriate enough, since it was under Picus’ tenure that the dusty cornfields of Warner Ranch sprouted high-rises and hotels to become the West Valley’s premiere commercial district.

“It won’t be a nothing day,” said Picus, 62, whose fifth bid for her 3rd District seat ended in defeat at the hands of her former chief deputy, Laura Chick.

The glass towers and tree-lined streets of Warner Center are among the most obvious legacies left by Picus in a political career that spanned three decades.

But there are other things she remembers that might not be so obvious. Like more than doubling the amount of parkland in her district. Or getting an apartment complex built for adults with severe disabilities.

“Sixteen years is a good piece of one’s life,” Picus said. “I’m enormously proud of what I’ve accomplished. It’s brought me a great deal of satisfaction and fulfillment. Not a lot of people can feel that good about what they’ve done.”

Since she was elected in 1977, Picus earned a reputation as a no-nonsense politician who forced developers to build better projects and as an advocate for women’s causes. She was named one of Ms. Magazine’s women of the year.

Picus said she more than once was stung by a political system largely run by men for men. After her election, she often was referred to as a Mary Poppins type, but over the years she also frequently was characterized as bitchy and vindictive.

“I think originally people tended not to see me as tough,” Picus said. “But I was tough at all times. The perception of Joy may have changed, but Joy did not change. I think being a woman from the Valley leads to that Mary Poppins image. If you were a man from the Westside, I think people assume you are going to be tough.”

Critics and supporters agreed that Picus was tough.

Her persistence paid off when she pushed a pay-equity plan in 1985 to ensure that female city employees are paid the same as men. She also was instrumental in efforts to get a city child-care coordinator appointed to help working women.

But her efforts sometimes met with defeat. In recent years, she railed against Mayor Tom Bradley for not appointing more Valley residents to city commissions.

Last year, during the battle to redraw the political boundaries of the Los Angeles Unified School District, Picus waged a fierce campaign to reverse changes that would have left the Valley with only one representative on the school board.

But the issue that many believe did the most political damage to Picus was the protracted fight over the Warner Ridge commercial and residential project near Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

Picus opposed the 21.5-acre development just as she was preparing to run for her third term in 1988 and won City Council support for her proposal to limit the property to single-family residences.

The developers sued the city, claiming Picus acted solely for political gain. A series of judges agreed that the city acted improperly and ultimately allowed the developers to build the project. The fight cost the city $10 million.

Picus said she does not believe her failures had much to do with her loss at the polls.

“I think what contributed to my defeat was that voters thought it was time for a change,” Picus said. “I don’t think it was time for a change, but I accepted what the voters said.”

Despite what the voters said, Picus said she is not about to leave public life. Her office in City Hall will be someone else’s come Thursday, but Picus will not be a stranger at 200 Spring St. She wants to work as an advocate for children’s causes and expand her political base beyond the 3rd District.

“Children are the largest single most disadvantaged group,” she said. “Seniors are fabulous advocates for themselves, but there is nobody there advocating for children.”

She also is eyeing a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors or perhaps in Congress.

“If Tony Beilenson decided not to run, his congressional seat is made for me,” she said.

But for now, she wants to rest.

After her final council meeting today, Picus said, she plans to hop in the car with her husband, Gerald, and drive off for a few days’ vacation. She won’t say where. But it’s someplace close enough to drive, yet far enough away to forget about City Hall and Los Angeles for a while.