Ins and Outs on Playa Vista

But if they had voted . . .: The observant may have noticed that three Westside members of the Los Angeles City Council were missing in action Sept. 21 when the council, by a 10 to 1 vote, approved the first stage of the huge Playa Vista development near Marina del Rey.

Coincidence?

Apparently. Marvin Braude was in Europe, Zev Yaroslavsky was testifying before the County Board of Supervisors and Jackie Goldberg left early to deliver a speech.

In case you wondered, representatives of the trio said they would have supported the project.

A postscript: Councilman Richard Alatorre, the only other MIA, had already given his blessing to the project as a member of the council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee.

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Moving on? State Sen. Diane Watson’s long wait may be nearly over.

After being disappointed in the past, the Los Angeles Democrat said she is “fairly confident” that President Clinton soon will make her political dream come true by naming her to an overseas State Department post. Her first choice? Bermuda, where Watson said she is a finalist for the job of U.S. consul general.

Her confidence about an appointment stems from a recent visit to Washington, where she met with White House officials about her prospects. “I was told it was on schedule,” said Watson, whose district includes the southern portion of the Westside from Venice inland to Hancock Park.

Administration officials, however, were noncommittal. One top official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said no decision has been made concerning Watson, adding that she is among “a large number of people” under review for the remaining diplomatic posts.

Watson has been angling for such a job for more than a decade. “It started with (former President Jimmy) Carter,” she said. I talked with him about it. . . . Then I talked to (1984 Democratic presidential candidate Walter) Mondale. And then I talked to (1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael) Dukakis,” who was Watson’s professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

“The only persons I didn’t talk to won (the presidency),” Watson said, referring to Republicans Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

With state lawmakers facing term limits, an appointment would accelerate Watson’s departure from her state Senate seat by one term. Watson’s likely successor: Assemblywoman Gwen Moore of Baldwin Hills, her friend and fellow Democrat.

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A different drummer: Despite intense constituent opposition, Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson has announced that he will support the North American Free Trade Agreement, becoming the first Westside lawmaker to take a definite stand in favor of the controversial treaty.

“The people who are most concerned about it or most vocal about it are, almost without exception, opposed to it,” said Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills), who admitted that his support may cost him votes.

Reps. Julian C. Dixon (D-Los Angeles) and Jane Harman (D-Marina del Rey) are opposed to NAFTA, while Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) says he remains on the fence. Waxman had earlier said he was inclined to back the accord pending the adoption of side agreements on environmental and labor issues.

Beilenson said he supports NAFTA because he believes that free and open trade benefits workers and consumers in the United States as well as other nations. Also, he said exports have been a source of strength in the U.S. economy in recent years, particularly in California, and exports to Mexico have tripled in the past six years.

“What we’re talking about here is reducing trade barriers, almost all of which have been erected in Mexico,” Beilenson said. “It’s clear that we’re going to be able to sell even more to them.”

Lawmakers report that constituents appear overwhelmingly opposed to the agreement to remove trade barriers between the United States, Canada and Mexico over the next 10 years. Several said concerns that NAFTA would cause a flight of manufacturing jobs to Mexico--a viewpoint continually emphasized by Ross Perot and many labor unions--has made it the hottest issue on the mail, telephone and town hall circuit.

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Vote of confidence: One of the world’s great deliberative bodies, the Beverly Hills City Council, has a penchant for agonizing at great length over municipal matters. It debates, it commissions studies, it sends items back to the city staff repeatedly for further massaging.

But the council showed no hesitation last week when it voted unanimously to throw its weight behind a $77-million bond issue for city schools that is on the ballot in November.

The vote followed a spirited two-hour debate on the merits of Proposition S, complete with a Beverly Hills-style infomercial narrated by Jack Lemmon in favor of the measure.

If municipal history is any indicator, bond supporters will need all the help they can get. Voters have rejected parcel-tax measures for the Beverly Hills Unified School District three times in the last six years, although the school district came close to victory with 66.61% of the vote in 1990 and 63.3% in 1991. A two-thirds approval or 66.67% of votes is required to impose such a tax.

If approved, the bond would be payable by property owners based on assessed property value over a 35-year period beginning in 1995. The median cost for homeowners would be about $90 a year and is tax deductible.

Both sides agree that Beverly Hills schools have fallen into disrepair and schoolchildren have to endure leaky roofs, moldy carpets, cracked walls, 1929-era boilers and falling ceiling tiles. What they can’t agree on is how to pay for repairs given the absence of state funding help.

Supporters argued before the council that residents must take the initiative and stop the decline by authorizing a bond earmarked only for school repairs.

Opponents contended that authorizing the bond would be like handing the school district a blank check, because they say it does not have enough controls on how the money will be spent. Others argued that the district overestimated how much money is needed for repairs, while still others testified that this bond proposal has significant technical flaws.

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Council meetings this week:

* Beverly Hills: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. 450 N. Crescent Drive. (310) 285-2400.

* Culver City: No meeting. (310) 202-5851.

* Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. 200 N. Spring St. (213) 485-3126.

* Malibu: No meeting. (310) 456-2489.

* Santa Monica: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. 1685 Main St. (310) 393-9975.

* West Hollywood: 7 p.m. Monday. West Hollywood Park Auditorium, 647 N. San Vicente Blvd. (310) 854-7460.

Contributing to this report were staff writers Ron Russell, Greg Krikorian and Alan C. Miller.