Council OKs Competitive Bids for Police Towing, but Not Until 1998

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to break the monopoly now held by city-licensed tow truck operators, but decided not to implement the reform until 1998 at the earliest--prompting Mayor Richard Riordan to consider a veto.

By an 11-2 vote, the council approved a plan to have the city’s official police garage contracts awarded through competitive bidding every five years--but balked at implementing the change for at least three years.

The council action also called for the 17 official tow truck companies to pay the city franchise fees that would total about $66,000 a year.

The firms that now hold contracts have the exclusive right to the lucrative business of towing and impounding all vehicles for city police and traffic officers.

Many of the current firms have had their contracts with the city for decades under a system that critics have condemned as an old-boy network kept alive by tow truck industry lobbyists and campaign contributions.

Ken Spiker, a well-connected lobbyist, represents the official police garage towing firms, and a preliminary review by The Times shows that Spiker and the firms have made about $80,000 in campaign contributions to elected city officials since January, 1989.

According to Deputy Mayor Michael Keeley, Riordan believes that the competitive bidding should begin immediately and that the new contracts awarded under that process should include a larger franchise fee payable to the city.

A 1992 audit by the city administrative office recommended that the official police garage contracts be awarded immediately on a competitive basis and that the city seek about $7.1 million in fees to recover about 60% of the $11.9 million it spends annually on its towing and impound program.

Under the plan approved Tuesday, the city will continue recovering about $5 million of its costs, said Barbara Bonino, a city analyst. That money comes largely from a $40-per-vehicle release fee, enacted in 1993, that is paid by motorists when they reclaim their impounded cars. The only new infusion of funds will be the $66,000 in franchise fees, Bonino said.

In testimony to the council Tuesday, Keeley urged the lawmakers to consider implementing a reform system that would defray more of the city’s costs at a time when City Hall is looking at a $200-million to $350-million budget deficit in the coming fiscal year.

Councilman Marvin Braude, the leading council sponsor for reforming the police garage system, said Tuesday that the council’s plan--promoted by Councilman Hal Bernson--would be rejected by Riordan.

“I feel confident that when the mayor gets this he’ll veto it,” Braude said.

Although Keeley and Deputy Mayor Robin Kramer told reporters that the mayor preferred a tougher plan, neither aide would predict a veto. One problem is that Tuesday’s council vote appeared to be veto-proof. Eleven council members voted for the plan, and only 10 votes are needed to override a veto.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for an independent group of tow truck operators seeking to win some of the police garage business at City Hall threatened to sue the city to force an acceleration of competitive bidding.