The Rich Will Pay More in Taxes--Guess Where They Live

Ouch: The affluent congressional district represented by Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) is one of the nation’s hardest hit by tax increases on high-income persons, in accordance with President Clinton’s five-year economic plan.

Waxman’s mostly Westside 29th District ranked second among 435 nationwide, with 22,714 constituents facing higher income taxes. Waxman voted for the plan last summer, citing the need to reduce the budget deficit and to make the tax system more progressive.

A recent study by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, calculated the cumulative five-year income and Medicare tax increase in every district. Residents of Waxman’s district will pay $2.3 billion more in taxes.

A Treasury official could not confirm these figures but said it was hardly surprising that “districts with relatively wealthy people find a lot of people paying higher rates.”

The Heritage researchers did not see fit to mention that low-income constituents in every congressional district will benefit from Clinton’s expansion of the earned income tax credit. The expanded credit will mean more money for 69,487 of Waxman’s constituents, according to Clinton Administration estimates, although the individual sums involved will generally be far more modest than the tax hikes faced by wealthy constituents.

Here’s the rundown for other Westside districts:

* 32nd District (Culver City, Mar Vista, Crenshaw, Mid-City), represented by Julian C. Dixon (D-Los Angeles): 3,477 people will pay more income taxes; cumulative tax increase of $357 million over five years, according to Heritage; national rank is 121 of 435. Beneficiaries of expanded earned income tax credit: 62,468, according to the administration.

* 36th District (along the coast from Venice to San Pedro), represented by Jane Harman (D-Marina del Rey): 10,558 face higher income taxes; cumulative tax increase of $1.1 billion over 5 years; national rank is 21. Beneficiaries of expanded earned income tax credit: 26,087.

* 24th District (Malibu, Valley, Thousand Oaks), represented by Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills): 12,749 face higher taxes; total bill over 5 years estimated at $1.3 billion; national rank is 9. Beneficiaries of expanded earned income tax credit: 23,270.

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Euphemism patrol: Used to be that companies fired people or laid them off when business got bad. Then came a gentler word to describe the same process: downsizing.

In Beverly Hills, a new term has surfaced in a memo from City Manager Mark Scott on the subject of staffing in the city’s Recreation and Parks Department:

“Most of the reductions in the recreation division have been realized, yet rightsizing efforts will continue where appropriate, such as review of possible contracting efforts in the parks division.”

A word of advice to the remaining 49 employees in a department that has lost 23 staffers through attrition and layoffs in the past three years: Keep your resumes up to date.

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Knocking noggins: Santa Monicans rushing into the market for a quart of eggnog this weekend may have their visions of sugarplum fairies interrupted by a heavy dose of local politics.

Holiday cheer is apparently in short supply.

The cause of the unseasonal mood is a petition-signing effort to force a referendum on the city’s plan to overhaul the Santa Monica Civic Center. State Sen. Tom Hayden has been spotted trolling for signatures at local supermarkets. In his effort, Hayden is butting heads with his usual allies on the City Council, who unanimously passed a Civic Center redevelopment plan after years of public meetings, workshops, design committees and the like.

Unhappy about the signature-gatherers’ depiction of the project as an urban monstrosity, supporters of the plan have been outside the markets too.

As Hayden et al try to get enough signatures before the Dec. 23 deadline, the friends of the plan are handing out fact sheets of their own, explaining that the project will transform a sea of asphalt into an urban oasis, with a big park, public plaza and 350 units of housing.

Hayden doesn’t like that. “This is outrageous! This is outrageous!” Hayden shouted at Santa Monica Planning Commissioner Eric Parlee last weekend, according to Parlee. Hayden could not be reached for comment.

The City Council got into the act last week by asking its staff to prepare a fact sheet to counteract what they view as the misinformation going out. Supporters of the plan held a press conference with a fact sheet of their own, along with the names of about 100 city activists who agree with them. The Police Officers Assn. also supported the Civic Center project with an ad in the Outlook (the plan includes a new police station).

Not to be out press-released, project opponent John Bodin faxed over a three-page statement defending the group’s literature and accusing the other side of trying to thwart democracy.

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Paranoid Pictures: As its fortress-like walls suggest, Paramount Pictures puts a high premium on security. Reporters and others without special clearance are routinely turned away from the sprawling Hollywood complex. The unwashed masses can but speculate about the hugely important events occurring inside.

But a rare opportunity to catch a candid glimpse of the studio at work appeared to present itself last Monday. Paramount put out an open casting call, inviting “acrobats, gymnasts and physically committed actors who are fit and agile” to a nearby theater.

Participants--they had to be between 4 feet, 8 inches and 5 feet, 8 inches tall--were told in the ad that they would have to be able to sustain “a believable, energetic performance inside of a state-of-the-art animal costume.”

It seemed worth checking out. Perhaps Paramount, willing to admit a bunch of strangers seeking to become animal impersonators, would let the Fourth Estate tag along to watch the fun.

Fat chance.

Paramount security forces first blocked a Times reporter from attending the tryout. Next, a public relations official, assuming the air of a defense contractor protecting a vital weapons secret, put the final kibosh on any press coverage, insisting that the project--a feature film--was in its early stages and required “artistic freedom.”

“This is not something we wish to share at this time,” she said.

So we can only speculate on what types of animals Paramount was looking for.

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Would you hire this man?Venice/Santa Monica activist Jerry Rubin hit the Big Five-O last weekend, and made a startling admission: He’s looking for a job--one that goes beyond sitting at his Alliance for Survival table on the Venice Boardwalk peddling peace literature and soliciting donations.

“Fifty is a time for self-examination and self-improvement,” he said. “I’m looking to see if someone has at least a part-time job. I am not really good at making money. . . . It’s hard for me to look at this without some fear that I am not really a skilled person. I am not complaining, but sometimes it’s rough when you’re out there selling bumper stickers and you only make $35 a day. You begin to wonder.”

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Feliz Hanukkah: Multiculturalism, a buzzword of the ‘90s. It bubbles like a mantra from the lips of pundits and politicians. You’ve heard the theory--now check out the practice.

Edison Elementary, Santa Monica’s Spanish-immersion school, gave its Winter Program last week. Children of many colors, from a variety of nations, put their hearts into such tunes as “Las Velitas” (a Hanukkah song) and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” (which included verses wishing you a Merry Hanukkah and a Merry Kwanzaa as well).

Maybe there’s hope for this metropolis after all.

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Council meetings this week:

* Beverly Hills: no meeting (310) 285-2400.

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

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

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

* Santa Monica: no meeting (310) 393-9975.

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

Contributing to this week’s report were staff writers Alan Miller and Nancy Hill-Holtzman, and correspondents G. Jeanette Avent, Jeff Kramer and Kit Roane.