Campaign Begins for Police Bond Measure : Public safety: Voter brochure will carry arguments from taxpayer groups who oppose spending public funds on facilities instead of staffing.

Opponents of a $171-million bond measure that would finance new police buildings and expand existing facilities will urge voters to reject the tax-raising proposal because they say it will do nothing to put more officers on the street.

That is part of the argument that opponents submitted Monday to election officials preparing the informational pamphlet that will be mailed to all voters prior to the June 6 elections.

The argument was drafted by Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., and endorsed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. and the United Organization of Taxpayers, a Valley-based watchdog group.

But in their own ballot argument, supporters say the measure will make the city safer by providing police, who are currently operating in overcrowded facilities, the resources they need to fight crime effectively.

The argument in support of the measure was written by Valley Councilman Richard Alarcon and endorsed by Mayor Richard Riordan, Police Chief Willie L. Williams, City Atty. James K. Hahn and other police and civic leaders.

Political pundits say the arguments and the endorsements on both sides will play an influential role in helping voters decide on the measure, particularly for those voters who get most of their election information from the informational pamphlet.

“Those arguments are important,” said Paul Clarke, a Northridge-based political consultant. “But as important as the arguments themselves is who signs the arguments.”

He added that having taxpayer watchdog groups oppose the measure will make it difficult for the measure to succeed, even though the supporters include popular police and city leaders.

“If you’ve got taxpayer watchdog groups against the measure, that means trouble because this is belt-tightening time,” Clarke said.

The Los Angeles City Council voted last month to put the measure on the June ballot in hopes of easing crowded conditions in police stations citywide. If approved by the required two-thirds majority, the measure would raise property taxes for the average household by $9.40 per year for 25 to 30 years.

Close’s ballot argument said the city should be concentrating on hiring more police--not on building new facilities.

“The city’s first priority should be to have more police officers on the streets,” he stated. “Raising taxes and diverting money to build new police stations, parking structures, etc. does not put police officers on the street.”

The argument also noted that voters approved a $176-million bond measure in 1989 and were promised that it would pay for several projects including new stations in the Valley and Mid-Wilshire areas. But because police and city officials underestimated construction costs, the two stations were never built.

“Will it happen again?” opponents ask in the argument.

But in their ballot argument, supporters said that police are currently working in overcrowded conditions and need new stations and expanded facilities to better protect the public.

“Every police station in Los Angeles has almost three times the number of officers they were built for,” supporters claimed.

Alarcon, who has spearheaded the campaign to support the bond measure, said he has begun to form a campaign committee and has already received a commitment for $5,000 from the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents the department’s rank and file officers.

To manage to campaign’s media outreach efforts, Alarcon said the league has also offered the services of the union’s public relations expert Geoffrey Garfield, who designed a controversial billboard campaign last year to pressure city officials to give police a pay raise. The billboards depicted a woman being confronted by a masked man with a handgun. Police eventually won a raise.

Alarcon said the campaign will include a mailer to voters.

“We are going to put together a full-blown campaign,” he said.

For their part, opponents of the measure said they have not decided how they will get their message out to voters. But at the very least, Close said he and other opponents will participate in the debates and forums that are expected to take place prior to the election.