SHERMAN OAKS : Group Seeks Interim Council Member

A newly formed coalition of homeowner associations, chambers of commerce and other community groups met Tuesday to discuss strategies on how to convince the Los Angeles City Council to appoint an interim council member to fill Zev Yaroslavsky’s soon-to-be-vacated 5th District seat.

Naming themselves “Coalition for a Voting Representative for the 5th Council District,” the group’s concerns revolve around the likelihood of a non-voting city legislative analyst being designated to address issues affecting the district for the remainder of Yaroslavsky’s term.

Yaroslavsky will leave the council Dec. 5 to assume his new duties as a Los Angeles County supervisor. His term ends in 1997.

“A city employee cannot be an advocate in any of the issues affecting our community,” said meeting coordinator Wendy Brogin of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. (VICA). “There are major issues concerning this district that will be before the council (during Yaroslavsky’s absence). With all the earthquake recovery efforts going on in the Valley, the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) project proposed for Sherman Oaks, and the manner in which public transportation will affect our communities, we need someone . . . who is cognizant of our concerns and that can cast a vote.”

In an attempt to convince a majority of the 15 City Council members to appoint an interim member of the council’s choosing, the coalition will send an open letter to each member and other community leaders. The letter will argue that full-time representation in every district is needed for good government.

The coalition wants the appointee be familiar with concerns of businesses and residents and to refrain from running for the council seat in the July, 1995, municipal elections.

The group maintains that a 5th District vote on the council is crucial as a unifying theme on the council. The coalition noted a recent incident in which City Council members representing central portions of the city were accused of shifting millions of housing rehabilitation dollars away from the quake-ravaged Valley during the absence of Valley colleagues.

Fred Gaines, a VICA board member and the head of the coalition’s letter-writing campaign, says he believes that incident is indicative of the way the council operates.

“Fortunately or unfortunately, City Council members look out for their own districts,” Gaines said. “With that, issues concerning the Valley will be neglected without a vote.”

“We’ve had vacancies in the past and the chief legislative analyst has always been selected to fill them because that person is most knowledgeable of the different district’s concerns,” City Council President John Ferraro said.

“If you appoint some interim person, they won’t even know where the bathroom door is much less be able to solve the district’s problems,” he said. “You won’t have someone in there with the knowledge that Yaroslavsky was able to provide.

“If (they) can get eight votes, however, I have no objections to filling the vacancy.”