Ironclad Reasons to Vote for Proposition 1 : Mike Feuer, David Takofsky deserve election to vital seats

If you are still undecided about Proposition 1, the $171-million police facilities bond measure on the Tuesday ballot, we’ve got more good reasons to urge a “yes” vote.

Proposition 1, if OKd by the voters, would pay for the construction of new police stations in the San Fernando Valley and Mid-Wilshire areas. It would also fund the cost of replacing two of the city’s oldest and most overcrowded police facilities: Rampart and Hollenbeck.

Prospective voters have been understandably leery of entrusting more tax dollars to Los Angeles officials for such purposes. That’s because the same Valley and Mid-Wilshire stations were promised in a similar bond measure that passed in 1989. They weren’t built because costs were badly underestimated.

Well, an offer from a most unusual source will help ensure that the whole thing will come in under budget this time. Auto giant General Motors is donating five acres of land from its vacant and shuttered Panorama City plant. That will allow a safety buffer of up to $10 million that will no longer be needed to acquire real estate.

So why should voters in other parts of the Valley have a care about paying for a station that would seem to have no influence on their neighborhoods? The answer is that the new station will have a positive impact on the rest of the Valley.

Right now, when a backup patrol car is needed in Panorama City, it has to come all the way from Sherman Oaks, and vice versa. Similarly, when police backup is needed in Sunland, it has to come all the way from Sylmar, and vice versa. With a new station in Panorama City, police response times will improve throughout the Valley.

That’s a lot of peace of mind for just 79 cents a month. That’s the cost of the bond if your home is worth about $160,000.

But that is not the only important choice Valley voters face Tuesday. The Los Angeles City Council 5th District seat, which encompasses parts of the Valley and the Westside, will be filled.

Our early endorsement choice in this race was Mike Feuer, and we are even more strongly in his corner now. Feuer, the former executive director of a prominent legal aid clinic, has a proven record of direct work on behalf of many people, from the elderly in the Valley and homeowners in South-Central to victims of the 1992 riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The leadership of Feuer’s campaign (which always starts with the candidate), also maintained the high ground in campaign tactics and has not resorted to questionable attempts to earn votes. Feuer best deserves the chance to represent the 5th Council District.

Valley voters can also influence another important race by voting for someone to replace Leticia Quezada, who is retiring from the Los Angeles Unified School District’s 5th District seat.

Our choice here was not an easy one, but we endorse David Tokofsky, an award-winning teacher at Marshall High School whose students have accumulated an impressive record of achievement.

In this case, being an insider is a plus. Tokofsky is better equipped to have an immediate and positive impact. With Los Angeles’ school bureaucracy and its byzantine internal politics, knowing the ropes from the start is essential.